Current status and solutions for AI ethics in ophthalmology: a bibliometric analysis

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• AI Ethics

Background:

• Ophthalmology is a leading field in adopting AI for medical advancements.
• Ethical discussions surrounding AI in ophthalmology remain limited despite significant progress.
• A bibliometric analysis was conducted to understand the landscape of AI ethics in ophthalmology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the evolution and current status of AI ethics in ophthalmology.
• To identify thematic trends, data modalities, and ethical focuses in ophthalmic AI research.
• To examine proposed solutions and future directions for AI governance in ophthalmology.

Main Methods:

• Bibliometric analysis of 498 publications from Web of Science and Scopus (2000-2023).
• Categorization of publications based on data modalities (e.g., fundus imaging, Optical Coherence Tomography - OCT).
• Analysis of ethical concerns, focus areas (diagnostic algorithms), and publication trends.

Main Results:

• Ophthalmology ranks second globally in medical AI ethics research.
• The United States, China, UK, Singapore, and India are major contributing countries.
• Key ethical concerns include privacy, fairness, and transparency, with differing priorities across modalities like fundus imaging and OCT.
• Most studies (78.3%) discuss ethics within diagnostic algorithm development, with a growing but still limited direct focus (11.5%) on ethical concerns themselves.

Conclusions:

• There is a critical need for integrated AI technologies and robust guidelines to address ethical challenges in ophthalmic AI.
• Future research should focus on developing and implementing ethical frameworks for AI governance in ophthalmology.
• This study provides a roadmap for innovation and responsible AI deployment in eye care.