Google's Deepmind to peek at NHS eye scans for disease analysis
One million anonymised eye scans from
Moorfields Eye Hospital will be used to train
an artificial intelligence (AI) system from
Google.
Machine learning algorithms will scour the
images for signs of diseases such as macular
degeneration and diabetes-related sight loss.
Moorfields is teaming up with Google's AI
division DeepMind during the scheme.
Previously, DeepMind faced criticism over a
little-known data sharing agreement with
three London hospitals.
An agreement to share patient data from the
Royal Free, Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals
over the past five years and continuing until
2017 was revealed by the New Scientist in
May.
In that case, Google said it was analysing
kidney data in the hope of developing an app
for medical staff.
The app, called Streams, would notify doctors
should someone be at risk of developing acute
kidney injury (AKI).
Announcing the latest venture with
Moorfields, Google has cited the support of
the Royal National Institute of Blind people
(RNIB) and sight charities such as the
Macular Society.
'Revolutionary' potential
"How it plays out over time remains to be
seen," Sam Smith, a co-ordinator at patient
data campaign group MedConfidential, told
the BBC.
"But you do have organisations involved that
aren't principally concerned with DeepMind -
they care about blindness in the case of RNIB
and long term medical research in the case of
the National Institute for Health Research."
"Maybe they have learnt the lessons of their
Royal Free fiasco," the MedConfidential
Twitter account tweeted , "Not that they've
shared what they learnt from that..."
One tech journalist, Gareth Corfield, tweeted
that he "hit the roof" after reading the news.
He has written a letter to Moorfields citing
the Data Protection Act.
"This is a serious dereliction of your duties as
a data controller," he wrote.
"To be crystal clear, I have not consented for
my personal data to be used by Moorfields
NHS Trust for any purpose other than treating
me for genuine medical purposes."
However, current rules state that as long as
data is anonymised it may be shared for
ethically approved projects.
Moorfields has published a Q&A on the
DeepMind collaboration which adds, "patients
can opt out of any data-sharing system by
emailing the Trust's data protection officer".
"Our research with DeepMind has the
potential to revolutionise the way
professionals carry out eye tests and could
lead to earlier detection and treatment of
common eye diseases such as age-related
macular degeneration," said Prof Sir Peng Tee
Khaw, director of the National Institute for
Health Research Biomedical Research Centre
in Ophthalmology at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
Google has said it is estimated that up to 98%
of sight loss that is a result of diabetes can be
prevented with early treatment.
Moorfields Eye Hospital will be used to train
an artificial intelligence (AI) system from
Google.
Machine learning algorithms will scour the
images for signs of diseases such as macular
degeneration and diabetes-related sight loss.
Moorfields is teaming up with Google's AI
division DeepMind during the scheme.
Previously, DeepMind faced criticism over a
little-known data sharing agreement with
three London hospitals.
An agreement to share patient data from the
Royal Free, Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals
over the past five years and continuing until
2017 was revealed by the New Scientist in
May.
In that case, Google said it was analysing
kidney data in the hope of developing an app
for medical staff.
The app, called Streams, would notify doctors
should someone be at risk of developing acute
kidney injury (AKI).
Announcing the latest venture with
Moorfields, Google has cited the support of
the Royal National Institute of Blind people
(RNIB) and sight charities such as the
Macular Society.
'Revolutionary' potential
"How it plays out over time remains to be
seen," Sam Smith, a co-ordinator at patient
data campaign group MedConfidential, told
the BBC.
"But you do have organisations involved that
aren't principally concerned with DeepMind -
they care about blindness in the case of RNIB
and long term medical research in the case of
the National Institute for Health Research."
"Maybe they have learnt the lessons of their
Royal Free fiasco," the MedConfidential
Twitter account tweeted , "Not that they've
shared what they learnt from that..."
One tech journalist, Gareth Corfield, tweeted
that he "hit the roof" after reading the news.
He has written a letter to Moorfields citing
the Data Protection Act.
"This is a serious dereliction of your duties as
a data controller," he wrote.
"To be crystal clear, I have not consented for
my personal data to be used by Moorfields
NHS Trust for any purpose other than treating
me for genuine medical purposes."
However, current rules state that as long as
data is anonymised it may be shared for
ethically approved projects.
Moorfields has published a Q&A on the
DeepMind collaboration which adds, "patients
can opt out of any data-sharing system by
emailing the Trust's data protection officer".
"Our research with DeepMind has the
potential to revolutionise the way
professionals carry out eye tests and could
lead to earlier detection and treatment of
common eye diseases such as age-related
macular degeneration," said Prof Sir Peng Tee
Khaw, director of the National Institute for
Health Research Biomedical Research Centre
in Ophthalmology at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
Google has said it is estimated that up to 98%
of sight loss that is a result of diabetes can be
prevented with early treatment.
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