NEI Joins Call for Standardization of Ophthalmic Imaging Devices

The National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, is joining the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and others in calling for imaging device makers to standardize their data formatting. Such standardization is expected to enable communication across health care providers, improve quality of care, and enhance the creation of datasets for research, according to an NEI news release.

“Failing to standardize ophthalmic imaging devices risks leaving the eye care field behind as the health care industry increasingly relies on artificial intelligence to analyze diagnostic imaging. Falling behind is bad for research, and bad for quality of care,” the NEI stated.

Vision care providers use a variety of imaging devices to diagnose, monitor, and treat eye disease. Examples include basic photography and optical coherence tomography, a noninvasive imaging technique used to evaluate the retina and other structures inside the eye. Often, such imaging is used to detect subtle anatomic changes that help evaluate disease progression and guide treatment.

The AAO has for many years supported adoption of the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard. DICOM includes a system of globally agreed-upon ophthalmological definitions. It promotes the seamless sharing of medical images by detailing how to format and exchange images and the information with which they are associated, such as the text describing the image and patient demographic information. Currently, meeting these standards is optional and DICOM compliance is low for ophthalmic imaging technologies. Even so-called DICOM compliant devices fail to fully meet DICOM standards; there is no easy way to exchange digital imaging data from one manufacturer’s equipment to another’s without creating a custom interface.

For more information, see “Recommendations for Standardization of Images in Ophthalmology,” published March 5, 2021, in Ophthalmology. DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2021.03.003