8:12 am today

The eye exam detecting chronic health conditions

From Saturday Morning, 8:12 am today
Ehsan Vaghefi.

Ehsan Vaghefi. Photo: Supplied

A regular eye exam can now detect early signs of chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease due to AI technology.

Groundbreaking research from the University of Auckland. Ehsan Vaghefi, now an associate professor of Medical Imaging and Artificial Intelligence in Optometry and Ophthalmology at the University of Auckland, and Dr David Squirrell, founded Toku in 2019.

It harnesses the power of AI to analyse scans from eye exams, to detect underlying conditions like chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.

Currently the technology is being used in thousands of clinics across the US, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and New Zealand. Toku was also recently a finalist in the KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards.

Ehsan Vaghefi shares his personal reason for getting into optometry and explains to Mihi how the technology actually works.