News and Updates

May 2025

SCONe: a community-acquired retinal image repository enabling ocular, cardiovascularand neurodegenerative disease prediction

Claire Tochel, Miguel O Bernabeu, Alice McTrusty, Andrew J Tatham, Emma Pead, Fiona Buckmaster, Jonathan Penny, Tom MacGillivray,Malihe Javidi, Heather Anderson, Ana Paula Rubio, Robert Wallace, Jamie B R Kidd, Ruairidh MacLeod, Niall Strang, Baljean Dhillon

Objectives: To safeguard Scotland’s community-acquired retinal images (colourfundus photographs) in a secure, centrally held repository and support a variety ofresearch including ocular, neurodegenerative and systemic disease prediction.

Design: Retinal images captured in optometry practices linked to national, routinelycollected, longitudinal healthcare data.

Setting: Community optometry and the Public Health Scotland National Safe Haven.Participants Adults (mostly aged 60+) who have attended their optometrist since 2006 for an eye examination during which a retinal image was captured.

Main outcome measures: Successful retrieval of linkable colour fundus photographs from systems in use in practice and delivery to the Safe Haven for linkage and secure storage.

Results: Scottish Collaborative Optometry-Ophthalmology Network e-research (SCONe) currently contains over 367 000* retinal images matched to over 36 000 patients. Healthcare data (hospital inpatient and outpatient, general ophthalmic, death and prescribing) records were retrieved for patients with one or more images, providing demographic and healthcare information for 95% of the cohort. The linked data allow the appl cation of condition labels or phenotypes at specific points in time, facilitating research into retinal manifestations of vascular and neural diseases. The cohort is representative of the Scottish 60+ population in terms of sex (54% female), and there is a slight over-representation of people of black, Asian and minority ethnic groups (2% vs 1%) and those living in areas of lower deprivation (30% vs 16% in lowest two categories). Early research work has begun and is focusing on ocular and neurodegenerative disease prediction.

Conclusions: The SCONe retinal image repository has been successfully established. We believe it offers enormous potential to support research into earlier detection of disease.

* Please note that the number of images quoted in this paper is far below what SCONe currently holds, due to the lengthy nature of getting work through journal peer review.

May 2025

The SCONe team and colleagues from the University of Edinburgh presented their work at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual meeting in Salt Lake City this month.

Retinal Feature Changes Over Time in AMD, Glaucoma, and Controls

Presented by: Claire Tochel

Most research on disease-associated retinal changes uses cross-sectional rather than longitudinal design. This study analyses longitudinal changes in retinal characteristics leading to age-related macular degeneration (AMD)/glaucoma diagnosis, providing further insight into disease progression and early detection.

Prediction of Optical Coherence Tomography Retinal Layer Thickness from Colour Fundus Photography in the UK Biobank

Presented by: James Porter

This work demonstrates the ability to estimate measurements of the retina’s structure from simple, widely available images instead of more complex, expensive technology. Through processing of these simple eye photographs, we can estimate the thickness of different layers in the retina which have been linked to brain health and neurodegenerative diseases. This approach may enable earlier and more accessible screening for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. Our results indicate that this technique is reliable across the left or right eye, and across different groups of people regardless of sex, ethnicity or overall health. In the future, this may lead to large-scale efficient monitoring and early intervention, improving patient outcomes.

Fundus Refraction Offset (FRO) as an individualized myopia biomarker

Presented by: Fabian Yii

In clinical practice, eyes with similar levels of myopia don't necessarily have fundi that 'appear' equally myopic (some eyes may have a retinal appearance that looks more 'stretched' than others). A novel descriptor of myopia, called Fundus Refraction Offset (FRO), was developed to capture this mismatch. For an eye with a given level of ametropia (in terms of refractive error or axial length), a more negative FRO indicates that the eye has a fundus that appears more myopic than expected for that level of ametropia. Work is underway using fudus images from SCONe to see whether FRO can help us predict the risk of myopic complications.

Beyond the Dataset: Integrating Public Voices in Data Science

Presented by: Ana Paula Rubio

Public Involvement and Engagement (PI&E) in big data research is an important but often overlooked area. The Scottish Collaborative Optometry Ophthalmology Network eResearch (SCONe) project, a Scotland-wide initiative, aims to build a longitudinal primary care retinal image repository that is linked with healthcare data. The images are being used to develop AI approaches that will allow early detection of conditions such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, systemic hypertension and dementia. By prioritising public input, SCONe, hopes to ensure that public voices help to build on the initial success of the project.

The SCONe dataset was also mentioned during a presentation by Siegfried Wagner titled Scaling UK Health Data Linkage: Implications for Oculomics, showing that awareness of SCONe is growing.

April 2025

We had a great time at the Edinburgh Science Festival on the 16th of April hosting our workshop Eye, Eye Doctor! 

SCONe team members and colleagues from The University of Edinburgh hosted a fun and informative workshop for children aged 8+ focused on understanding the eye as a window to our health. Through our activities, we talked about the role of an optometrist, retinal images and the importance of regular eye checks.

We invited the children to become an Optometrist for the day and they spotted the differences between images of a healthy retina and a range of diseased retinas. They were also able to take a retinal image themselves using a portable fundus camera, the epiCam, and a model head which were available thanks to Epipole. 

Sight loss simulation glasses representing different types of sight loss were available thanks to Optometry Scotland. The children were able to put these on and discuss what things in their life might be different or harder with sight loss. 

This event was led by Ana Paula Rubio, our Patient and Public Involvement & Engagement (PPI&E) lead. To find out more about our PPI&E work please see our web page linked below. 

April 2025

The SCONe team and colleagues from the University of Edinburgh will be presenting their work at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual meeting in Salt Lake City on the 4th-8th of May 2025, including:

• Retinal Feature Changes Over Time in AMD, Glaucoma, and Controls
  Conference: Imaging of the Eye
  Session: Retina
  Date: 03/05/2025
•  Fundus refraction Offset: A novel individualised biomarker for myopia
  Poster session: 248 (Myopia: Structural and Functional Changes)
  Posterboard number: 2158 - A0338
  Date: 05/05/2025
• Prediction of Optical Coherence Tomography Retinal Layer Thickness from Colour Fundus Photography in the UK Biobank
  Conference: Imaging of the Eye
  Posterboard number: PB0096
  Date: 03/05/2025
• SCONe: Developing a Public Involvement and Engagement Strategy within Big Data
  Poster Session: 368 (Electronic Health Record and Big Data Sciences)
  Posterboard Number :3960 - B0497
  Date: 06/05/2025

April 2025

SCONe’s Professor Niall Strang and Dr Tom MacGillivray attended the College of Optometrists AI in Eyecare Summit on 2nd April in London. The event formed the initiation of their AI Expert Advisory Group (AI-EAG) tasked to identify key issues relating to the use of AI in eye health.

A College of Optometrists survey found members are largely optimistic about AI’s potential to enhance eye care over the next decade. Read more at the link below.

March 2025

SCONe team members Professor Baljean Dhillon and Andrey Elizondo attended the Harnessing AI for Better Health event on 19th March in London as part of The University of Edinburgh’s AI Showcase.

This event, set up by The University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Innovations, featured presentations about the University’s world-class health research and innovation made possible by AI.

We’re beginning recruitment for a project funded by Research Data Scotland on Data Conversations. The project team seek to create age-appropriate, participant-driven resources that raise public awareness of the value of retinal images as data in healthcare research. The term ‘data’ covers a wide range of information, which can make it challenging for the public to engage in discussions about data research. Using the SCONe project as an example, the team will work with the public to break down complex ideas into tangible examples. Working with participants, they will explore the implications of using – or not using – health data in research around disease prevention, care and early detection. The final workshop will take place on the 3rd of August in Aberdeen. Together, they will develop recommendations that can be used by SCONe as the foundation of materials that will enhance public awareness of the value of retinal images in healthcare research.

Thanks to funding from NHS Lothian Charity, the SCONe team is launching a new project focused on raising awareness of eye health and particularly age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This project aims to support people in understanding why regular eye tests matter, not just for vision, but for overall health, and to encourage habits that help protect eyesight as we age. AMD is one of the leading causes of vision loss in Scotland, and with an ageing population, it’s affecting more people than ever. Yet, awareness of AMD and the role of eye tests in early detection and management remains low. That’s why this project, led by SCONe and its Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) team, will explore what’s missing in current health messaging and develop a new, more effective strategy to fill those gaps.