Qatar-based British-Pakistani scientist develops AI eye scan for early dementia diagnosis

WASHINGTON: Professor Rayaz Malik, a British-Pakistani scientist based in Qatar, says a simple AI-powered eye scan lasting just two to three minutes may soon help doctors detect dementia and diabetic nerve damage years before symptoms appear. Professor Malik, a leading researcher in diabetic neuropathy and neurodegenerative diseases at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, told Dawn that the technology could transform early diagnosis and treatment, particularly in countries with soaring diabetes rates such as Pakistan. Speaking to Dawn, he explained how researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine are using this technology, known as corneal confocal microscopy (CCM), to identify nerve damage years before patients begin showing symptoms. “The cornea has the richest sensory innervation in the body,” he said, explaining why the eye offers a unique window into diseases affecting the nervous system. “We evolved to protect vision, so the cornea contains a dense network of nerves that can reveal damage occurring elsewhere in the body.” Traditionally, CCM was used by ophthalmologists and optometrists to diagnose infections and abnormalities in the front surface of the eye. But Professor Malik and his colleagues discovered that the same technology could detect microscopic nerve fibre damage linked to diseases far beyond the eye itself. The breakthrough dates back to 2001, when he discussed the technology with Nathan Efron. At the time, Malik was studying diabetic neuropathy — a debilitating condition caused by nerve damage in diabetes patients. “Many experts thought we were crazy,” Malik recalled. “But in 2003, we published the first paper showing corneal nerve loss in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.” That study opened the door to more than two decades of research. Since then, investigators around the world have shown that CCM can detect nerve damage associated with diabetes, chemotherapy, inflammatory disorders and infectious diseases. Research conducted in Qatar over the la