Listening to Our Patients: How ForeseeHome Uses AI to Keep Your Doctor Informed

Earlier this year, we hosted small virtual discussion groups with current ForeseeHome patients to better understand what’s working well, and where we can do better. Several patients told us they want to better understand how ForeseeHome works behind the scenes.

How does the device know when something may have changed?
How does the information get to their doctor?

This month, we answer those questions.

First, What Is “Artificial Intelligence”?
You’ve probably heard the term artificial intelligence (AI) in the news. It can sound complex, but the basic idea is simple: AI refers to computer systems that can perform tasks that usually require human thinking.

There are different types of AI technology:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the broad term for smart computer systems.
• Machine Learning is a type of AI where a computer learns by studying many examples and recognizing patterns.
• Deep Learning is a more complex form of machine learning often used to analyze large amounts of image data.

How ForeseeHome Uses Machine Learning
As an early adopter of AI, ForeseeHome has used machine learning since the device was cleared by the FDA in 2009. The system was trained using a normative database that includes testing data of patients with intermediate age-related macular degeneration (AMD). From this data, it has learned what typical results look like, and what patterns may signal a possible change.

When you test at home, your results are securely transmitted to the Notal Vision Monitoring Center. The system compares your testing pattern in two important ways:

1. Against the normative database, which reflects expected testing patterns in patients with intermediate AMD, and
2. Against your own baseline, which is established when you first begin testing on your device.

By comparing your current results to both this large-scale reference data and your personal starting point, the system can identify meaningful changes in your visual function that may suggest a conversion to wet AMD.

How Your Doctor Is Notified
Your doctor has 24/7 access to your testing data via an online portal.

If the system identifies a change that needs attention, an alert is generated. That alert is reviewed by the Notal Vision Monitoring Center and sent to your referring eye doctor. Your doctor’s office will determine whether you should come in for an exam.

If no significant change is detected at that follow-up exam, you simply continue testing as usual and maintain your regularly scheduled office visits.

Alerts and follow-up exams like these can bring mixed feelings: relief that your eye remains dry, but frustration that the visit may feel unnecessary.

However, research suggests these alerts still provide important information.

A sub-analysis of the large-scale, real-world ALOFT study found that patients who had alerts that did not result in a wet AMD diagnosis were nearly twice as likely to convert to wet AMD in the future compared to those who did not have such an alert.

In other words, these alerts may signal that your eye is changing, even if it has not yet converted. Click here to read more about the study in a previous newsletter article.

It’s important to remember: ForeseeHome does not replace your doctor and does not make medical decisions. It serves as an additional monitoring tool between scheduled eye exams.

Why This Matters
Many patients have shared that the hardest part of intermediate AMD is the time between eye appointments, not knowing if anything might be changing. ForeseeHome was designed to help bridge that gap.

By testing regularly, you are giving your doctor more information between appointments and playing an active role in your care. Every test you take contributes to that shared goal: staying informed and staying connected to your care team.

Thank you for continuing to share your feedback with us. We are listening.