Eyes have always been a source of inspiration in the world of fashion. From exquisite eye-shaped jewelry (especially Daniel Roseberry at Schiaparelli who embraced Surrealism and borrowed from Dali and Niki de Saint Phalle for the decorative motifs on his designs and for his jewelry pieces) to intricate eye-print patterns and dazzling eye-themed embellishments, the all-seeing eye has consistently made its presence felt in fashion collections season after season.
However, in recent times, there's a new, cutting-edge dimension to the fascination with eyes, one that transcends mere fashion aesthetics.
The latest studies in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are indeed venturing into a territory where technology and the human eye intersect in remarkable ways, promising to reshape our understanding of vision, health, and even our very perception of reality.
Last year it was announced in a study published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology that an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool could assess an individual's risk of heart disease in less than a minute just by scanning their eyes.
The fully automated AI tool, Quartz, evaluates the veins and arteries of the retina (the nerve tissue at the back of the eye responsible for light sensing and signaling to the brain). The width, curvature, and width variation of retinal veins and arteries can indeed play a role in risk prediction.
The discovery opened new medical opportunities for ophthalmologists and healthcare professionals implying that in future we may be able to determine the risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular-related mortality, and strokes in a shorter time and without blood tests or blood pressure measurements.
But eyes and visual changes can reveal a lot about us and our health, indeed numerous systemic diseases manifest ophthalmic alterations: bulging eyeballs, can indicate a thyroidal condition, while dry eyes can help diagnosing certain chronic, autoimmune diseases such as Sjögren's syndrome.
Researches focused on eyes and employing retinal imaging and AI are continuing as, just like advancements with these techniques can detect changes in the retinal blood vessels and signal blood or cardiovascular disease, the retina, being also part of the central nervous system, can help detecting other conditions.
A study published in August this year shows indeed that a 3D scanning technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT) used by opticians could potentially identify individuals at a high risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases, recognizing early indicators of Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, and schizophrenia up to seven years before the onset of symptoms.
OCT employs light waves to create cross-sectional images of the retina and is used by optometrists to detect eye diseases like glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.
The study employed anonymized data from thousands of patients and volunteers and AI was employed to compare OCT eye scan data from 700 patients who later developed Parkinson's disease with data from over 100,000 patients who did not.
A cross-sectional analysis using data from these two studies measured the thickness of the macular retinal nerve fiber layer (mRNFL), ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL), and inner nuclear layer (INL) using optical coherence tomography (OCT).
The relationship between prevalent PD and retinal thicknesses was assessed as individuals with PD exhibit reduced thickness in the INL and GCIPL layers of the retina.
The involvement of these layers several years before clinical symptoms manifest suggests the potential utility of retinal imaging in categorizing individuals at risk for PD (please note that image 5 in this post is not a scientific image, but an imagined rendition of an eye scan made with Midjourney).
Further research is obviously necessary and the technology is likely several years away from providing precise diagnoses, but, in the future, routine eye examinations could potentially detect early signs of various diseases and delay the onset and impact of life-altering neurodegenerative disorders.
Apart from offering hope that eye scans could be used to identify people at risk of developing Parkinson's and enable early treatment, the eye scans analyzed in this study are non-invasive and already in routine use, which means that they could easily be employed by hospitals and national health services.
Maybe in future AI-enhanced retinal imaging can accurately help us with other disease with highly efficient, cost-effective and non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic tools and tests. But, for the time being, there are some great inspirations behind these medical stories: from retinal imaging to oculomics (the capacity to identify connections between the state of the eyes and specific diseases through non-invasive ophthalmic imaging, combined with health data analysis).
If you want to get some other wonderful inspiration check out (as usual) the Wellcome Collection archive where you may find stimulating items and objects relating to eyes.
There’s something vaguely disturbing, but also truly exquisite in the craftsmanship behind the ivory and horn artificial eye complete with eyelids (1679), by Giovanni Batista Verle accompanied by a little booklet about the artificial eye, dedicated to Ferdinand, Prince of Tuscany, or in the eye defect teaching models from 1840-1900 and in the clay-baked eye votive offerings from Roman times,
But, if you want ideas for prints check out the cross-sectional view of the compound eye of a Fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) made using a transmission electron microscope. The eye is composed of numerous small, rounded structures known as ommatidia, which are clearly visible in the image. Each ommatidium appears as a circular cluster of cells enclosed by supportive cells (they do look like flowers, don't they?). If you prefer bright colors, check out Adolfo Ruiz de Segovia's image of the eye of a fly, taken using the photomacrography technique (its colors and textures could actually inspire entire collections...).
So keep your eye peeled (pun intended) about news regarding ophthalmology and oculomics - eye-related insights and AI-related discoveries can indeed be a treasure trove for creative minds and spark ideas for innovative solutions, artistic expression, and fashion storytelling.
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