Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42699245›Full record

ArticleOphthalmology science2026

Deriving OCT-Equivalent Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness Maps from Fundus Photographs with Deep Learning Improves Glaucoma Diagnosis.

Lily Shi, Min Shi, In Young Chung, Louis R Pasquale, Lucy Q Shen, Mengyu Wang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Ophthalmology science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Lily ShiHarvard Ophthalmology AI Lab, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Min ShiSchool of Computing & Informatics, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana.
In Young ChungDepartment of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Louis R PasqualeDepartment of Ophthalmology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.
Lucy Q ShenDepartment of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Mengyu WangHarvard Ophthalmology AI Lab, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.

Funding

VISION RESEARCHP30EY003790 · NEI · SCHEPENS EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI Patricia Ann D'Amore · 1985 to 2026
$25.5M
Innate and Adaptive Immunity in the Pathogenesis of GlaucomaR01EY031696 · NEI · SCHEPENS EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI Dong Feng Chen, Jianzhu Chen · 2021 to 2026
$5.2M
Understanding the clinical impact of cumulative genetic risk to glaucomaR01EY032559 · NEI · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · PI Louis Robert Pasquale, Janey L Wiggs · 2021 to 2026
$4.3M
Multiomic Framework for GlaucomaR01EY036460 · NEI · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · PI JAE H KANG, Louis Robert Pasquale · 2024 to 2026
$2.4M
Developing Population-Generalizable Deep Learning Models for Automated Glaucoma ScreeningR01EY036222 · NEI · SCHEPENS EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI Mengyu Wang · 2024 to 2026
$2.0M
Developing Multimodal Foundation Models for Eye Disease Screening and PrognosisR01EY038687 · NEI · SCHEPENS EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI Mengyu Wang · 2026 to 2026
$858k
NEI NIH HHS P30 EY003790NEI NIH HHS R01 EY031696NEI NIH HHS R01 EY032559NEI NIH HHS R01 EY036222NEI NIH HHS R01 EY036460NEI NIH HHS R01 EY038687
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Purpose: To develop and evaluate a deep learning model that predicts OCT-equivalent retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) maps directly from color fundus photographs and to assess their diagnostic value for detecting glaucomatous visual field (VF) loss. Design: Retrospective model development and evaluation study. Participants: 15 031 paired fundus photographs and spectral-domain OCT scans collected at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 2011 to 2022. Methods: Paired fundus and OCT images were used to train a U-Net-based model to predict pixel-wise RNFLT maps with artifact-corrected supervision. Diagnostic performance was evaluated across single-modality models (fundus photos only, real RNFLT maps, and predicted RNFLT maps) and multimodal fusion models (fundus + predicted RNFLT maps). Stratified analyses examined model performance across glaucoma severity and demographic subgroups. Glaucoma was defined based on standard criteria applied to Humphrey 24-2 VF testing. Main Outcome Measures: Mean absolute error and structural similarity index for RNFLT map prediction. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and accuracy for glaucoma detection. Results: RNFLT map prediction achieved mean absolute error = 15.4 μm and structural similarity index = 0.65, measured against artifact-corrected RNFLT maps derived from OCT. For glaucoma detection, the predicted RNFLT-only classifier outperformed the fundus-only classifier (AUC: 0.889 vs. 0.883, Conclusions: Predicted RNFLT maps derived from fundus photographs provide quantitative, OCT-like structural information and improve detection of glaucomatous VF loss. Unlike prior work that predicted only summary RNFLT values, our model generates full RNFLT maps that better support glaucoma classification than fundus images alone. This approach offers a scalable pathway for early glaucoma screening and expands diagnostic access in resource-limited settings. Financial Disclosures: Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Indexed as

Deep learningFundus photographyGlaucomaOCTRetinal nerve fiber layer thickness map

Identifiers

PMID42699245
PMCPMC13542931

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.