A Graph Neural Network-Based Multispectral-View Learning Model for Diabetic Macular Ischemia Detection From Color...

To investigate the feasibility of using color fundus photographs (CFPs) combined with artificial intelligence (AI) for detecting diabetic macular ischemia (DMI), a condition characterized by retinal capillary loss in the macula that leads to vision impairment in diabetic patients. Despite the widespread use of CFPs and AI in diagnosing other eye diseases like diabetic retinopathy (DR), their application in DMI detection remains unexplored because of skepticism regarding its viability.

A graph neural network-based multispectral-view learning (GNN-MSVL) model was developed to detect DMI from CFPs. The model uses computational multispectral imaging to reconstruct 24-wavelength pseudo-multispectral fundus images from CFPs, enhancing sensitivity to subtle reflectance changes caused by ischemic tissue. ResNeXt101 served as the backbone for multi-view feature extraction, whereas a customized GNN with jumper connections improved cross-spectral relationship learning. The study included 1078 macula-centered CFPs from 1078 eyes of 592 diabetic patients, with 530 images from 300 patients confirmed as DMI cases.

The GNN-MSVL model achieved an accuracy of 84.7% and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.900 (95% confidence interval, 0.852-0.937) at the eye level, significantly outperforming both baseline CFP-trained models and human experts (P < 0.01).

AI-based analysis of CFPs shows promising potential for DMI detection, offering a feasible, early, and cost-effective screening method. This approach could address the current gap in DMI diagnosis and improve clinical outcomes for diabetic patients.

This study will establish a feasible, CFP-based screening method for DMI.