A landmark Scottish research collaboration has achieved a major milestone in eye health innovation, securing more than one million retinal images to support early diagnosis and research into sight-threatening and systemic diseases.
The Scottish Collaborative Optometry–Ophthalmology Network eResearch (SCONe) — established as a joint initiative by the University of Edinburgh and Glasgow Caledonian University in 2020 — was designed to safeguard retinal images captured in community optometry practices and use them to advance understanding of diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, cardiovascular disease, and dementia.
Funded by multiple partners including the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Sight Scotland, Fight for Sight, NHS Lothian Charity, the Chief Scientist Office, and The RS Macdonald Charitable Trust, the project has evolved from proof of concept to a world-leading data resource in just five years.
The repository now contains images from 10 of Scotland’s 14 Health Board areas, securely housed in Public Health Scotland’s National Safe Haven, a rigorously protected environment for clinical data research.
Professor Baljean Dhillon, one of SCONe’s founders, says the resource has the potential to “fast-track vital healthcare research” by enabling new diagnostic and predictive models. “One of the many benefits of the repository comes from the presence of many images without or before clinical diagnosis,” he explained. “The secured data, in conjunction with the latest advances in Artificial Intelligence for medical image analysis, are extremely valuable for developing new diagnostic tools and refining important time points in clinical care pathways where there is a need for monitoring, referral and intervention.”
The project prioritizes data privacy, ensuring that all directly identifiable information is removed before images enter the Safe Haven. Access is currently limited to approved SCONe researchers, but the team is developing a framework with Public Health Scotland and Research Data Scotland to allow secure, controlled access for qualified external researchers.
“We have focussed on data security at all stages of the process of creating this invaluable retinal image repository from collection all the way through to analysis," added Professor Dhillon. "Multiple layers of protection are in place around the use of the images, including the removal of all directly identifiable information, creating a resource which can support a wide range of research in the public benefit while people’s privacy is protected.”
The milestone underscores Scotland’s growing reputation as a leader in ophthalmic data science and AI-driven retinal research, paving the way for breakthroughs in both ocular and systemic disease diagnostics.
For more information, visit clinical-sciences.ed.ac.uk/ophthalmology/scone
The Scottish Collaborative Optometry–Ophthalmology Network eResearch (SCONe) — established as a joint initiative by the University of Edinburgh and Glasgow Caledonian University in 2020 — was designed to safeguard retinal images captured in community optometry practices and use them to advance understanding of diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, cardiovascular disease, and dementia.
Funded by multiple partners including the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Sight Scotland, Fight for Sight, NHS Lothian Charity, the Chief Scientist Office, and The RS Macdonald Charitable Trust, the project has evolved from proof of concept to a world-leading data resource in just five years.
The repository now contains images from 10 of Scotland’s 14 Health Board areas, securely housed in Public Health Scotland’s National Safe Haven, a rigorously protected environment for clinical data research.
Professor Baljean Dhillon, one of SCONe’s founders, says the resource has the potential to “fast-track vital healthcare research” by enabling new diagnostic and predictive models. “One of the many benefits of the repository comes from the presence of many images without or before clinical diagnosis,” he explained. “The secured data, in conjunction with the latest advances in Artificial Intelligence for medical image analysis, are extremely valuable for developing new diagnostic tools and refining important time points in clinical care pathways where there is a need for monitoring, referral and intervention.”
The project prioritizes data privacy, ensuring that all directly identifiable information is removed before images enter the Safe Haven. Access is currently limited to approved SCONe researchers, but the team is developing a framework with Public Health Scotland and Research Data Scotland to allow secure, controlled access for qualified external researchers.
“We have focussed on data security at all stages of the process of creating this invaluable retinal image repository from collection all the way through to analysis," added Professor Dhillon. "Multiple layers of protection are in place around the use of the images, including the removal of all directly identifiable information, creating a resource which can support a wide range of research in the public benefit while people’s privacy is protected.”
The milestone underscores Scotland’s growing reputation as a leader in ophthalmic data science and AI-driven retinal research, paving the way for breakthroughs in both ocular and systemic disease diagnostics.
For more information, visit clinical-sciences.ed.ac.uk/ophthalmology/scone
