How we're using data to help find early signs of Parkinson's disease

It’s increasingly clear that our eyes are the window to the body’s wider health. Scientists have already used data from eye scans to reveal signs of neurological conditions including Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis.

Now, researchers at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology have found that eye scans can identify signs of Parkinson’s disease - up to 7 years before symptoms even appear.

The team used artificial intelligence to analyse a database of 154,830 3D scans, searching for physical differences in the retina which indicate the presence of the disease.

The process was then repeated using UK Biobank’s database, assessing 67,311 healthy volunteers aged between 40 and 69. This replicated the team’s findings, confirming that people with Parkinson’s share similar characteristics in the layer of cells below the skin’s surface.

It’s hoped that this type of detailed 3D scan – known as optical coherence tomography, or OCT – could now be used as a pre-screening tool to detect Parkinson’s disease before people even experience symptoms. This could then enable patients to receive treatment and make any appropriate lifestyle changes at a much earlier stage – potentially offering a vast improvement to their quality of life.

Moorfields' medical director Louisa Wickham said that using imaging across a wider population could "have a huge impact on public health in the future.”

The findings of the study have been published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.