Assessing Diabetic Retinopathy Staging With AI: A Comparative Analysis Between Pseudocolor and LED Imaging.

PURPOSE: To compare the diagnostic performance of artificial intelligence (AI)-based diabetic retinopathy (DR) staging system across pseudocolor, simulated white light (SWL), and light-emitting diode (LED) camera imaging modalities.

METHODS: A cross-sectional investigation involved patients with diabetes undergoing imaging with an iCare DRSplus confocal LED camera and an Optos confocal, ultra-widefield pseudocolor camera, with and without SWL. Macula-centered and optic nerve-centered 45 × 45-degree photographs were processed using EyeArt v2.1. Human graders established the ground truth (GT) for DR severity on dilated fundus exams. Sensitivity and weighted Cohen's weighted kappa (wκ) were calculated. An ordinal generalized linear mixed model identified factors influencing accurate DR staging.

RESULTS: The study included 362 eyes from 189 patients. The LED camera excelled in identifying sight-threatening DR stages (sensitivity = 0.83, specificity = 0.95 for proliferative DR) and had the highest agreement with the GT (wκ = 0.71). The addition of SWL to pseudocolor imaging resulted in decreased performance (sensitivity = 0.33, specificity = 0.98 for proliferative DR; wκ = 0.55). Peripheral lesions reduced the likelihood of being staged in the same or higher DR category by 80% (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Pseudocolor and LED cameras, although proficient, demonstrated non-interchangeable performance, with the LED camera exhibiting superior accuracy in identifying advanced DR stages. These findings underscore the importance of implementing AI systems trained for ultra-widefield imaging, considering the impact of peripheral lesions on correct DR staging.

TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: This study underscores the need for artificial intelligence-based systems specifically trained for ultra-widefield imaging in diabetic retinopathy assessment.