According to a report by the BBC, researchers from Moorfields Eye Hospital and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology in London used artificial intelligence to examine details in the retina.
Scientists analyzed detailed images of the retina obtained from 154,830 patients aged 40 and above who visited eye hospitals in London between 2008 and 2018.
The research, which utilized images obtained through Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), also utilized a database containing information from 67,311 healthy volunteers aged 40 to 69.
Differences were observed in the eyes of Parkinson's patients and non-patients, with Parkinson's patients found to have a thinner ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL).
The study suggested that undergoing such scans before symptoms appear could aid in the early diagnosis of the disease.
Data from eye scans has also been helpful in revealing signs of other neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and schizophrenia.
Siegfried Wagner, a clinical research fellow at Moorfields Eye Hospital, expressed astonishment at what can be discovered through eye scans, stating that detecting certain conditions before symptoms arise could lead to people changing their lifestyles to prevent the diseases in the future.
Louisa Wickham, Medical Director at Moorfields Eye Hospital, mentioned that using imaging on a broader population could have a significant impact on public health in the future.
The results of the research were published in the journal "Neurology."
