Automated method of detecting cancer of the eye surface in focus: here's what you need to know

Sydney: Australian researchers have developed a new automated noninvasive diagnostic technique for surface cancer of the eye, offering the potential to reduce the number of biopsies, prevent treatment delays and make treatment much more effective for patients .

Cancer of the eye surface, also known as squamous cell neoplasia of the ocular surface, is a common malignant tumor of the cornea and conjunctiva. The new technique involves the custom construction of an advanced imaging microscope related to computer operations and Artificial Intelligence (AI), reported the Xinhua News Agency.

The result is an automated system "able to successfully identify, in real time, a diseased or ill eye tissue, by means of a simple scanning process".

"The clinical symptoms of OSSN are known to be variable and can be extremely difficult to detect at an early stage, so that patients may be delayed in treatment or misdiagnosed," said lead scientist Abbas Habibalahi. at the Australian Council for Research (ARC) Excellence Center for BioPhotonics at the Nanoscale.

Early detection of the disease is essential as it "supports simple and more curative treatments such as topical therapies, while advanced lesions may require eye surgery or even eye removal, and also include a risk of mortality, "he said.

The new technique badyzes the natural light emitted by specific eye cells – diseased cells – possessing their own unique "light wave signature", which the researchers' special calculating algorithm is able to identify to provide a "quick and efficient diagnosis". Habibalahi said in an article published in the newspaper The Ocular Surface.

"We will be able to confirm the disease immediately with a simple eye exam, without a biopsy, and the appropriate measures can be quickly taken into account by the specialist," he said.