COVID-19 and the Retina - how does this Coronavirus affect the back of the eye?

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COVID-19 can affect the retina. Retinal vein diameter seems directly correlated with the disease severity. Its assessment could have possible applications in the management of COVID-19.

As the coronavirus pandemic evolves and spreads worldwide, more information emerges on how the virus affects the body. What was once a respiratory illness has now become a systemic infection, affecting multiple organs.

AI Algorithm Helps Screen COVID-10 patients based on Eye Images

(c) Yanwei Fu

Scientists describe a potential screening method for COVID-19 based on eye images analyzed by artificial intelligence. Scanning a set of images from several hundred individuals with and without COVID-19, the tool accurately diagnosed coronavirus infections more than 90 percent of the time, the developers reported in a preprint posted to medRxiv September 10.

New OCT technique offers better potential in retinal stem cell and gene therapy treatment

Researchers at the University of Washington have modified the standard process of OCT (optical coherence tomography) to detect minute changes in response to light in individual photoreceptors in the living eye. The technique has potential in the testing of therapies such as stem cells or gene therapy to treat retinal disease.