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Artificial Intelligence in Health

REVIEW ARTICLE
The perspectives of eye care professionals on the

integration of artificial intelligence in eye care
practices: A systematic review

Obehi Suzan Idogen*

Department of Optometry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Benin, Benin, Edo, Nigeria

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has recently been integrated into the health-
care industry, including in optometry and ophthalmology. This systematic review
assessed the opinions (i.e., perspectives, concerns, and degrees of acceptance) of
eye care professionals regarding AI integration into eye care practices. The literature
search was conducted using the PubMed and MEDLINE databases. A total of 780
related articles were identified. Among these articles, 304 duplicates were removed,
450 articles were excluded after reviewing the abstract, and 18 articles were excluded
after reviewing the full text as these articles were not relevant and/or did not report
surveys. The remaining eight included studies were assessed accordingly. Most
ophthalmologists and optometrists had a positive perception toward incorporating
AI into eye care practices, and these professionals shared that AI would effectively
enhance clinical eye care practices. However, certain eye care professionals were
concerned about the diagnostic accuracy of AI, the high implementation costs, privacy
issues, and the quality of AI-integrated patient care. Several eye care professionals
*Corresponding author:
Obehi Suzan Idogen also expressed concerns that AI technology could eventually replace some of their
(obehi.idogen@lifesci.uniben.edu) major responsibilities in the practice, suggesting that stakeholders should essentially
address these concerns and ensure that AI integration in eye care practices is
Citation: Idogen OS. The
perspectives of eye care implemented thoughtfully and ethically to maximize its benefits while preserving
professionals on the integration the quality of patient care. Nonetheless, this systematic review highlighted the
of artificial intelligence in eye care predominantly positive attitude among eye care professionals toward AI integration
practices: A systematic review.
Artif Intell Health. 2024;1(2): 66-75. into eye care practices, warranting further research and collaboration between AI
doi: 10.36922/aih.2809 developers and eye care professionals to effectively address the current challenges.
Received: January 23, 2024
Accepted: March 6, 2024 Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Perspective of ophthalmologists; Perspective of
optometrists; Eye care
Published Online: April 22, 2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution 1. Introduction
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has become a pivotal aspect of the health-care
provided the original work is industry, including optometry and ophthalmology. 1-15 AI technology has been widely
properly cited. used in different eye care practices, 16-19 such as managing and analyzing clinical patient
Publisher’s Note: AccScience data (e.g., eye images) and addressing staff- and management-related issues. 2,20-32 In
Publishing remains neutral with addition, AI technology has been used for diagnosing eye disorders, leading to a relatively
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional faster and simpler diagnosis of ocular conditions. As a result, eye care professionals can
affiliations. provide more thorough patient care and generally better practices. 33,34

Volume 1 Issue 2 (2024) 66 doi: 10.36922/aih.2809