‍ARVO 2022 THROUGH RETINAI’S EYES

At RetinAI, the level of excitement for the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2022 Annual Meeting in Denver has been heightened for months. As one of the largest eye and research organizations, ARVO 2022 did not disappoint with other 8,800 attendees including more than 145 exhibiting companies. 

Indeed, the conference has been the first in person exhibiting event for RetinAI since the beginning of Covid-19. What a pleasure to be physically together again, interacting with those across companies about the industry’s latest developments and challenges, and to showcase our solutions!

Apart from the ‘finally coming back to normal life’ excitement, ARVO 2022 has been a great opportunity and learning experience for RetinAI.
The number of people who visited our newly branded booth (please scroll down to see photos) was at a consistently high level during most of the conference. Visitors were interested in learning about RetinAI and seeing live demos of our Discovery® platform and how it can be used to optimize data management and insights in clinical studies (link to flyer) and research (link to flyer). People visiting us were also interested in the application of AI in clinics through learning about our upcoming launch of RetinAI’s Disease Evaluation Apps integrated on Heidelberg Engineering’s AppWay (link to brochure).
The discussions we had, provided the RetinAI team with additional validation and excitement to know that we are fulfilling unmet needs across data workflows in research, clinical studies and in the clinic. This, coupled with great news of our FDA-clearance for RetinAI’s Discovery platform (link to PR) - which was received some hours before the start of ARVO! - means we are on the right track to bringing validated solutions to stakeholders in Ophthalmology. 

Walking around and visiting fellow exhibitors was also an interesting and enriching experience for RetinAI. Lots of innovative solutions were presented across fields of clinical research, treatments and medical devices (such as taking a visual acuity measurement simply with a handheld device).

When it comes to research, it was encouraging to see how widely machine learning, artificial intelligence and big data were at the forefront throughout the conference. Indeed, not only a significant amount of paper and poster sessions were focused on these disciplines, but what was even more interesting was that presenters were not only data scientists, but a mix of physicians and researchers who explained how they deploy AI in their research and share that adoption of AI in Ophthalmology is increasing.

Fascinating too is more research being done evaluating how screening and diagnosis in Ophthalmology are linked to other systemic diseases: for example, what can an image of the retina tell us about heart diseases and Alzheimer’s research?
Without a doubt, a meeting like ARVO 2022 with so many stakeholders involved in research is a great opportunity for exchanging knowledge and generating future research opportunities.

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Thought leaders in Retina alongside our Chief Scientific Officer Sandro De Zanet, participated in a Special Interest Group (SIG) session as part of ARVO’s virtual sessions.The SIG program, titled ‘’AI and digital tools for patient enrollment, data monitoring and evaluation of outcomes in clinical studies”, included three presentations all mainly focused on how AI and data management tools can enhance clinical studies in the ophthalmology field. Specifically, Dr. Frank Holz from the University of Bonn spoke about the role of AI-based patient management in age-related macular disease; Dr. Marion Munk from the University of Bern presented the challenges in conducting clinical studies for neovascular AMD and ophthalmology in general; and Sandro De Zanet, PhD, gave more insights on the Razorbill Study (link to it) and how digital tools and AI can empower physicians’ work with enriched data. Dr. Irmela Mantel from the University of Lausanne was this session’s moderator, facilitating an interesting discussion on how AI can be applied to clinical studies and patient management.  

Reflecting on ARVO 2022, and summarizing our experience in 3 words, we would say: insightful, meaningful and FUN!
‍Motivated even more to be back in the exhibitor swing in person, we are looking forward to our next events in the coming months: ASRS in New York, EURETINA in Hamburg and AAO in Chicago!