Google Partners with Indian Healthcare Orgz to Combat Diabetic Retinopathy with AI

As part of the partnership, Google is licensing its diabetic retinopathy AI model to these organizations to assist in around six million AI-driven screenings over the next decade.

On October 17, Google announced new partnerships and collaborations across India's healthcare, sustainability, and agriculture sectors, leveraging its advanced artificial intelligence (AI) research and models.

These collaborations aim to address critical challenges unique to India and improve the lives of billions through AI-driven solutions.

AI for Healthcare: Fighting Diabetic Retinopathy

In the healthcare sector, Google is teaming up with Bengaluru-based Forus Health and AuroLab, the manufacturing arm of Madurai’s Aravind Eye Hospital, to expand screening for diabetic retinopathy—a condition that can lead to vision loss and blindness in diabetes patients.

Google will also collaborate with Thailand's Perceptra to extend this initiative internationally.

As part of the partnership, Google is licensing its diabetic retinopathy AI model to these organizations to assist in around six million AI-driven screenings over the next decade.

These screenings, aimed at underserved communities in India and Thailand, will be provided at no cost to patients.

The partners, including Forus Health and AuroLab, will own, deploy, and maintain the AI model and work with regulatory bodies to ensure the program’s expansion on a large scale.

Targeting Preventable Blindness

The diabetic retinopathy AI model is designed to aid clinicians by enabling early detection of the condition on a large scale.

Google first developed, validated, and deployed the model in India, and it has already supported more than 600,000 screenings globally. The goal is to reduce preventable blindness among diabetes patients by identifying issues early on.

RD Sriram, Managing Director of AuroLab, expressed optimism about the impact of this AI technology.

“We are hopeful this AI model will play a crucial role in preventing unnecessary vision loss for millions of people,” he said.

K Chandrasekhar, founder of Forus Health, also emphasized the significance of the partnership, noting its potential to “impact millions of lives” and contribute to the mission of eliminating preventable blindness in the region.

This initiative is part of Google’s broader commitment to using AI to address real-world problems and bring tangible benefits to communities worldwide.

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