Oculomics: Current concepts and evidence

Zhuoting Zhu¹, Yueye Wang², Ziyi Qi³, Wenyi Hu⁴, Xiayin Zhang⁵, Siegfried K Wagner⁶, Yujie Wang⁴, An Ran Ran⁷, Joshua Ong⁸, Ethan Waisberg⁹, Mouayad Masalkhi¹⁰, Alex Suh¹¹, Yih Chung Tham¹², Carol Y Cheung⁷, Xiaohong Yang⁵, Honghua Yu⁵, Zongyuan Ge¹³, Wei Wang¹⁴, Bin Sheng¹⁵, Yun Liu¹⁶, Andrew G Lee¹⁷, Alastair K Denniston¹⁸, Peter van Wijngaarden¹⁹, Pearse A Keane⁶, Ching-Yu Cheng¹², Mingguang He²⁰, Tien Yin Wong²¹

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Eye Research Australia, Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: Lisa.zhu@unimelb.edu.au.
² School of Optometry, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
³ Centre for Eye Research Australia, Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Centre for Eye Research Australia, Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁵ Guangdong Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁶ NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK.
⁷ Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁸ Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, Ann Arbor, USA.
⁹ Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹⁰ University College Dublin School of Medicine, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.
¹¹ Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
¹² Department of Ophthalmology and Centre for Innovation and Precision Eye Health, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore; Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.
¹³ Monash e-Research Center, Faculty of Engineering, Airdoc Research, Nvidia AI Technology Research Center, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
¹⁴ State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
¹⁵ Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
¹⁶ Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.
¹⁷ Center for Space Medicine and the Department of Ophthalmology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Blanton Eye Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, USA; The Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, USA; Departments of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, USA; University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA; Texas A&M College of Medicine, Bryan, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, USA.
¹⁸ NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK; National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), University Hospital Birmingham and University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK; University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK; Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK; Birmingham Health Partners Centre for Regulatory Science and Innovation, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
¹⁹ Centre for Eye Research Australia, Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
²⁰ School of Optometry, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China; Research Centre for SHARP Vision (RCSV), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Eye and Vision Research (CEVR), 17W Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong, China.
²¹ Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore; School of Clinical Medicine, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: wongtienyin@tsinghua.edu.cn.

PMID: 40049544
DOI: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2025.101350

Free article

Review

Oculomics: Current concepts and evidence

Zhuoting Zhu et al. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2025 May.

Free article

. 2025 May:106:101350.

doi: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2025.101350. Epub 2025 Mar 4.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Eye Research Australia, Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: Lisa.zhu@unimelb.edu.au.
² School of Optometry, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
³ Centre for Eye Research Australia, Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Centre for Eye Research Australia, Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁵ Guangdong Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁶ NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK.
⁷ Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁸ Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, Ann Arbor, USA.
⁹ Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹⁰ University College Dublin School of Medicine, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.
¹¹ Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
¹² Department of Ophthalmology and Centre for Innovation and Precision Eye Health, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore; Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Program, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.
¹³ Monash e-Research Center, Faculty of Engineering, Airdoc Research, Nvidia AI Technology Research Center, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
¹⁴ State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
¹⁵ Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
¹⁶ Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.
¹⁷ Center for Space Medicine and the Department of Ophthalmology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Blanton Eye Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, USA; The Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, USA; Departments of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, USA; University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA; Texas A&M College of Medicine, Bryan, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, USA.
¹⁸ NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK; National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), University Hospital Birmingham and University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK; University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK; Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK; Birmingham Health Partners Centre for Regulatory Science and Innovation, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
¹⁹ Centre for Eye Research Australia, Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
²⁰ School of Optometry, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China; Research Centre for SHARP Vision (RCSV), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Eye and Vision Research (CEVR), 17W Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong, China.
²¹ Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore; School of Clinical Medicine, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: wongtienyin@tsinghua.edu.cn.

PMID: 40049544
DOI: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2025.101350

Abstract

The eye provides novel insights into general health, as well as pathogenesis and development of systemic diseases. In the past decade, growing evidence has demonstrated that the eye's structure and function mirror multiple systemic health conditions, especially in cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and kidney impairments. This has given rise to the field of oculomics-the application of ophthalmic biomarkers to understand mechanisms, detect and predict disease. The development of this field has been accelerated by three major advances: 1) the availability and widespread clinical adoption of high-resolution and non-invasive ophthalmic imaging ("hardware"); 2) the availability of large studies to interrogate associations ("big data"); 3) the development of novel analytical methods, including artificial intelligence (AI) ("software"). Oculomics offers an opportunity to enhance our understanding of the interplay between the eye and the body, while supporting development of innovative diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic tools. These advances have been further accelerated by developments in AI, coupled with large-scale linkage datasets linking ocular imaging data with systemic health data. Oculomics also enables the detection, screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of many systemic health conditions. Furthermore, oculomics with AI allows prediction of the risk of systemic diseases, enabling risk stratification, opening up new avenues for prevention or individualized risk prediction and prevention, facilitating personalized medicine. In this review, we summarise current concepts and evidence in the field of oculomics, highlighting the progress that has been made, remaining challenges, and the opportunities for future research.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Big data; Disease detection; Disease prediction; Oculomics; Retinal imaging; Systemic diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement Dr. Y Liu is an employee of Google and owns Alphabet stock. Dr. AG Lee works as a consultant for NASA but the views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily represent those of NASA or the United States government; he has the following disclosures which are not relevant to the contents of this manuscript: Amgen (speaker), Alexion (speaker), Viridian, Catalys, Ethyreal, Astrazeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Stoke. Dr. PA Keane has acted as a consultant for Retina Consultants of America, Topcon, Roche, Boehringer-Ingleheim, and Bitfount and is an equity owner in Big Picture Medical; he has received speaker fees from Zeiss, Novartis, Gyroscope, Boehringer-Ingleheim, Apellis, Roche, Abbvie, Topcon, and Hakim Group; he has received travel support from Bayer, Topcon, and Roche, he has attended advisory boards for Topcon, Bayer, Boehringer-Ingleheim, RetinAI, and Novartis. Dr. CY Cheng is a consultant for Medi-Whale. Dr. TY Wong is a consultant for Bayer, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Genentech, Opthea Limited, Roche; he is an inventor, holds patents and is a co-founder of start-up companies EyRiS and Visre, which have interests in, and develop digital solutions for eye diseases.

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Oculomics: Current concepts and evidence

Affiliations

Oculomics: Current concepts and evidence

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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Medical

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