Artificial intelligence techniques in inherited retinal diseases: A review

TL;DR

This review discusses how artificial intelligence, especially deep learning and explainable AI, is transforming diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment planning for inherited retinal diseases, highlighting current progress and future challenges.

Contribution

It consolidates existing AI research in IRDs, identifies gaps, and proposes structured pathways for clinical application and future research directions.

Findings

AI techniques improve disease detection and progression prediction.

Convolutional neural networks are highly effective in IRD analysis.

Explainable AI enhances transparency and trust in clinical settings.

Abstract

Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) are a diverse group of genetic disorders that lead to progressive vision loss and are a major cause of blindness in working-age adults. The complexity and heterogeneity of IRDs pose significant challenges in diagnosis, prognosis, and management. Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) offer promising solutions to these challenges. However, the rapid development of AI techniques and their varied applications have led to fragmented knowledge in this field. This review consolidates existing studies, identifies gaps, and provides an overview of AI's potential in diagnosing and managing IRDs. It aims to structure pathways for advancing clinical applications by exploring AI techniques like machine learning and deep learning, particularly in disease detection, progression prediction, and personalized treatment planning. Special focus is placed on the effectiveness of convolutional neural networks in these areas. Additionally, the integration of explainable AI is discussed, emphasizing its importance in clinical settings to improve transparency and trust in AI-based systems. The review addresses the need to bridge existing gaps in focused studies on AI's role in IRDs, offering a structured analysis of current AI techniques and outlining future research directions. It concludes with an overview of the challenges and opportunities in deploying AI for IRDs, highlighting the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and the continuous development of robust, interpretable AI models to advance clinical applications.