iSelfie™ Digital Health Platform for Detecting Health Conditions
At AiZtech Labs, we have introduced a groundbreaking digital health platform called the iSelfie™. This innovative test runs on standard smartphones (iOS or Android), using the phone’s camera to scan the outer surface of the eye and detect key signs of various diseases. The first product, focuses on screening and pre-screening for active COVID-19 infections.
The next product in line is the iSelfie Test for Heart Health Signals (also called the Cardio Test), which allows users to measure blood pressure through a simple “selfie” experience. In addition, it can detect heart rate, heart rate variability, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), and other vital metrics. Users only need their own smartphone—there’s no equipment to purchase or chemicals involved—and test results are delivered in 60 seconds.
The platform is fully cloud-hosted and can be accessed via a browser on standard iOS or Android devices with a stable internet connection and a camera with a resolution of 5MP or higher, or on a PC with a camera. It leverages an advanced AI engine, powered by deep learning models, to identify digital biomarkers for various diseases.
Why the eye?
The eye plays a key role in the detection of active COVID-19 infections. Our technology detects the presence of signature ocular manifestations like conjunctivitis and inflammation that are connected to the presence of COVID-19 on the outer surface of the eye.
SAR-COV-2 virus penetrates human cells through ACE2 receptors among others. ACE2 receptors are commonly found at cells lining the lungs nasopharynx and nasolacrimal duct (Bougonje et al., 2020).
Zhou et al. showed ACE2 expression on the ocular surface, predominantly on superficial conjunctival and corneal epithelial surfaces. With this evidence the eye can serve as a portal for viral entry and/or inoculation (Zhou et al., 2020).
Other studies stated that ocular manifestations in the form of local transient vasculitis cannot be excluded because of the high vascularity of the conjunctiva and the expression of ACE2 on the surface of endothelial cells (Aiello et al., 2020)
What happens?
Research shows the eye can be a point of entry as well as inoculation for the SARS-COV-2 virus.
A meta-analysis of COVID-19 clinical trials shows that ocular symptoms often present within the first 7 days. This trend was reported across all age groups (from 5 years – 75 years) (Danthuluri & Grant, 2020).
Research shows that ocular changes may also be present after the disease becomes systemic, while other studies show ocular findings can be a presenting symptom (Wu et al., 2020).
Covid-19 positive individuals typically manifest conjunctivitis and ocular surface pathology; however, Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and retinal fundus imaging have demonstrated the presence of cotton wool spots (CWS), retinitis, optic neuritis (Loffredo et al., 2020).
Why it matters?
Research shows that pathological ocular surface changes occur at the onset of COVID-19 infection at the cellular and tissue level even if ocular manifestations remain at a subclinical level.
These ocular surface manifestations can be detectible by AiZtech’s deep learning engine and used in screening and surveillance testing for COVID-19 infections. This novel modality compliment is to compliment available tools to bend the curve of infections and enable everyone to live a life not limited by a pandemic.
The most prevalent ocular surface manifestation found within COVID-19 samples is conjunctivitis (Inomata et al., 2020).
Various forms have been found including follicular conjunctivitis (Aggarwal, et al., 2020) keratoconjunctivitis (Cheema et al., 2020), bilateral (Salducci & Torre., 2020), and unilateral (Sindhuja et al., 2020; Guo et al., 2020).
Related Publications
System and method for detecting a health condition using eye images
Mohamed Sheta, Benjamin Fonooni, Sara LeBlanc LeBlanc, Lingxiao QiUS-12109025-B2
Info
AiZtech Labs
2024-10-01
We have developed a digital health platform called iSelfie™ that screens for various medical conditions, such as COVID-19, by identifying its distinctive manifestations on the outer surface of the eye.