Beyond What Meets the Eye: How SELENA+ is Revolutionizing the Detection of Eye Diseases

Diabetes is a chronic, progressive metabolic disorder characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose or blood sugar. This occurs when the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin - a hormone essential for regulating blood sugar - or when the body becomes unable to effectively use the insulin it produces.

Currently, 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, a figure that is expected to grow to approximately 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045. In 2019, diabetes was the direct cause of 1.5 million deaths, with 48 percent of these deaths occurring before the age of 70, underscoring the disease's severe impact on life expectancy. Equally alarming is the rise in young-onset diabetes as more children and adolescents are being diagnosed with childhood obesity due to factors such as poor diet and physical inactivity.

Both the United Nations and the World Health Organization have identified diabetes as a major global health concern due to the increasing prevalence and significant economic burden it places on individuals, families, and healthcare systems, particularly in low-and-middle income countries. The rising cost of managing diabetes, especially with the growing reliance on expensive analogue insulins, contributes to substantial financial strain, often outpacing the benefits of more affordable treatment options. This economic impact extends beyond medical expenses, as people with diabetes also face loss of productivity, income, and quality of life.

Moreover, diabetes can lead to a wide range of serious health complications that can significantly affect and impair an individual's quality of life. Among this is diabetic retinopathy, a condition where high blood sugar levels cause damage to the retina's blood vessels. Diabetic retinopathy affects nearly one third of people with diabetes and is a leading cause of vision impairment and blindness globally. While long term vision loss can be prevented by early detection and treatment, many healthcare systems are not adequately resourced or lack trained professionals to conduct the necessary screenings.

In response to the growing challenge of diabetic retinopathy, innovative technologies like SELENA+ (Singapore Eye Lesion Analyzer) are increasingly playing a role in streamlining and enhancing healthcare delivery. SELENA+ is a patented deep-learning AI software system that is designed to detect potential threatening eye conditions accurately and efficiently. Developed through a collaboration between Singapore Health Services and the National University of Singapore (NUS), SELENA+ utilizes excellent image processing algorithms to analyze retinal images and detect early signs of diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration.

Similarly, unlike traditional screening methods which are time consuming, resource intensive, and highly dependent on the expertise of human graders, the software leverages convolutional neural networks along with a deep learning system to process and interpret retinal images with remarkable precision. Additionally, the strength of SELENA+ lies in its ability to mimic human intelligence, identifying complex patterns and structures in retinal images. Through extensive training on datasets of nearly 500,000 retinal images from multi-ethnic populations across various countries, SELENA+ has demonstrated an ability to match or surpass human graders in detecting retinal abnormalities.

Furthermore, this innovative approach has been integrated into Singapore's Integrated Diabetic Retinopathy Programme, leading to a 50 percent reduction in workload for clinicians. Results are available in minutes, instead of the hours or days typically required by traditional methods, optimizing healthcare resources, and enabling more timely and personalized care plans for diabetic patients. With the number of diabetic patients in Singapore expected to double by 2050, SELENA+ offers a promising solution to alleviate the growing burden on healthcare systems.

Moreover, the commercial success of SELENA+ has been largely attributed to the strong intellectual property protections that underpin its development and commercialization. By securing patents such as US20200211235, WO2019022663, SG11201912260, the developers maintain exclusive rights to their innovation, thereby ensuring not only the local deployment of this AI-driven retinal diagnostic tool but also its global commercialization through EyRIS, a startup focused on introducing this AI-driven retinal diagnostic tool to international markets.

Besides, the role of intellectual property in this context extends beyond mere legal protection; it has been a key driver for innovation, attracting significant investment and facilitating the adoption of cutting-edge healthcare technologies like SELENA+ across healthcare systems worldwide.

As SELENA+ continues to evolve, its future applications could extend beyond eye health, positioning it as a comprehensive tool in preventative healthcare. The developers are exploring its potential to assess cardiovascular risks by analyzing biomarkers found in retinal images. Changes in the blood vessels of the retina, for instance, can reveal early signs of cardiovascular issues, providing critical insights into a patient's overall health. This capability could significantly aid in early detection of heart disease, stroke, and other related conditions, transforming SELENA+ from a specialized diagnostic tool into a broader platform for chronic disease management.

Moving forward, the success of SELENA+ exemplifies how intellectual property serves as a catalyst for innovation in the healthcare industry. Its development reflects Singapore's broader institutional strengths, particularly its well-established intellectual property framework. As a resource-limited city-state, Singapore has strategically invested in strong institutional foundations to drive economic growth and technological innovation. The country's commitment to intellectual property protection plays a central role in this strategy, enabling Singapore to safeguard its technological advancements and maintain a competitive edge in global markets. SELENA+ stands as a testament to how robust intellectual property frameworks can propel technological breakthroughs and foster innovation, particularly in high-impact fields like healthcare.