EYECARE: Eye Health Microsoft India, L V Prasad Eye Institute Launch Global Consortium to Tap Artificial Intelligence’s Power for Eyecare By Staff Wednesday, December 21, 2016 12:30 AM HYDERABAD, India—Microsoft India and the L V Prasad Eye Institute have teamed up to launch the Microsoft Intelligent Network for Eyecare (MINE), which they describe as “a global consortium of commercial, research and academic institutions who have joined to apply artificial intelligence to help in the elimination of avoidable blindness and scale delivery of eyecare services worldwide.”Members of the consortium include Brien Holden Vision Institute (Australia), Bascom Palmer Eye Institute - University of Miami (http://bascompalmer.org) (USA), Flaum Eye Institute - University of Rochester (USA) and Federal University of Sao Paulo (Brazil). The partner organizations will collaborate and collectively work on diverse datasets of patients across geographies to come up with machine learning predictive models for vision impairment and eye disease, according to a statement issued by Microsoft and the L V Prasad Eye Institute. This will include the rate of change of myopia in children, conditions that impact children’s eyesight, predictive outcomes of refractive surgery, optimal surgery parameters as well as ways to personalize a surgery and maximize its probability of success. By studying this data and applying advanced analytics with Microsoft machine learning technology to derive insights, MINE will aim to drive strategies to prevent avoidable blindness and help increase efficiency in the delivery of eyecare worldwide, the companies said in the statement.Speaking at the launch, Anil Bhansali, managing director, Microsoft India, said, “MINE, a global collaboration, reinforces Microsoft’s belief in the combined power of data, cloud and advanced analytics to drive public good. In our shared vision to eradicate preventable blindness, MINE will help redefine eyecare by bringing together the power of technology and knowledge of global experts.”Dr. G.N. Rao, founder-chair, L V Prasad Eye Institute, said, “We are confident that this partnership will not only open doors to opportunities in the field of eyecare, but also pave way for others to leverage technology to address several other critical eye diseases.”Professor Kovin Naidoo, CEO of the Brien Holden Vision Institute, remarked, “This is a novel initiative that has the potential to achieve positive impact by bringing together researchers and health care professionals in the eyecare field to harness the power of shared data and thus generate more effective solutions for vision problems.”