Key Takeaways
- Deya is sponsoring an Illinois College of Optometry research project to advance AI-based clinical decision support using smartphone-acquired anterior segment images
- Investigators will use Deya Imaging to collect images of anterior segment diseases and contact lens findings, which will be labeled and incorporated into a HIPAA-compliant AI training database
- The study will run through the end of 2026 and aims to improve doctor-directed tele-eyecare services
Digital eyecare software start-up Deya has entered into a sponsorship agreement with the Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) to support a research project focused on advancing artificial intelligence-based clinical decision support (CDS) for remote eye care using smartphone imaging.
The study, led by investigators Yi Pang, OD, PhD, FAAO; Jennifer Harthan, OD, FAAO, FSLS; and Erica Ittner, OD, will evaluate the use of Deya Imaging, a proprietary smartphone imaging system designed to capture high-definition anterior segment images through a patient's smartphone.
According to the company, the research is intended to strengthen the AI engine that underpins Deya's doctor-directed tele-eyecare platform. The CDS system is designed to analyze patient-acquired images and provide decision support to eye care professionals managing appropriate remote care scenarios, including triage and follow-up after in-office visits.
As part of the research protocol, Deya Imaging's automated smartphone image-capture technology will be used to collect images representing a range of anterior segment diseases and contact lens positioning findings. Images will be uploaded to a HIPAA-compliant cloud repository that serves as the AI system's training database.
The company said the AI training process will rely on standardized image labeling overseen by a team of eye care professionals, including Scott Jens, OD, FAAO, Deya's chief medical officer, and Jovi Boparai, MD, the company's chief executive officer.
According to Deya, the project is intended to improve the AI platform's ability to recognize ocular findings and provide more effective clinical decision support for practitioners using its tele-eyecare software. The company described the initiative as the only known research project leveraging smartphone-acquired anterior segment images specifically for AI-driven clinical decision support.
"ICO and its clinic, the Illinois Eye Institute, has consistently been on the cutting edge of eye care research and through this opportunity sponsored by Deya, we aim to help eye doctors take better care of their patients by collecting high-quality images that will advance the AI system that is at the center of giving them clinical decision support when their patients submit their own eye images as part of their doctor-directed eye care," Dr. Pang said in a statement.
The research project is scheduled to continue through the end of 2026. According to ICO, it is one of nearly 150 research studies currently underway at the institution. ICO's Dr. Newton K. Wesley Research Center opened in 2024 as part of the college's broader effort to expand its academic research enterprise.
