Video game software patented for age-related macular degeneration research

DALLAS – BALANCED Media|Technology (BALANCED), 与西南视网膜基金会和南威尼斯人娱乐城合作，, today announced a patent-pending medical imaging technology (U.S. Patent Application Serial No.16/538,662) that uses automated software and a video game to provide standardized, accurate, 准确识别眼部疾病，包括年龄相关性黄斑变性(AMD), the leading cause of visual impairment in the world.

BALANCED, RETINA, and SMU also signed a 10-year exclusive license, development, 以及与BALANCED达成的商业化协议，将医疗成像技术带入350亿美元的人工智能医疗保健市场.

To assist RETINA, BALANCED created and crowd-sourced an original video game, Eye in the Sky: Defender. 游戏使用嵌入在游戏环境中的光学相干断层扫描(OCT)视网膜图像来创建人机图像分割. As players predict the path of the alien force in the game, 他们在不知不觉中学会了追踪用于进行OCT视网膜扫描诊断测量的线条，并创建新的数据集.

When integrated with BALANCED’s HEWMEN® artificial intelligence (AI) platform, 视网膜的专家和新大的研究人员使用这些新数据集来提供训练机器学习(ML)算法所需的信息，以更准确地分析OCT图像.

“人机协作是机器学习和人工智能的下一步，”科里·克拉克说， 新大市政厅计算机科学与工程研究副主任兼助理教授, 他是新加坡管理大学莱尔工程学院计算机科学助理教授，也是BALANCED的首席技术官. “这个应用程序是一个很好的例子，展示了如何将人类的知识和直觉注入机器学习过程中，能够创造出他们自己都无法做到的事情. This is just the first step. 我相信我们将在未来看到更多令人兴奋的事情来自这些合作.”

通过利用这种复杂的人在循环(HITL)计算模型, as well as human computational gaming (HCG), 现在有可能使用人工智能来快速分析数百万个单独的数据集(视网膜图像)，以检测模式和病理，这在给定范围内是不可能或不切实际的.

“这项技术可能会改变研究人员和药物制造商在疾病进展数据分析方面的游戏规则, drug trials, and treatment efficacy for age-related macular degeneration, among other diseases,” said Dr. Karl Csaky, CEO and CMO at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest. “With this technology we are seeing substantial improvements to image analysis, decreasing our time and cost, 并且看到处理的图像数量和相关的图像处理的准确性和精度的显著增加.”

Dr. Csaky recently joined BALANCED as an advisor, 协助公司准备将其医疗成像技术推向市场. Dr. Csaky发表了140多篇同行评议的出版物和书籍章节，是视网膜疾病临床研究和药物输送开发方面的专家. Dr. Csaky is a member of the Macula Society, Retina Society, and American Academy of Ophthalmology, ARVO, and the American Society of Retinal Specialists. 

Research was made possible with a $2.5 million grant

Supported by a $2.5 million grant award from the W. W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation at Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT), RETINA and SMU Lyle School of Engineering partnered in a collaborative venture six years ago to help to rapidly prototype new diagnostic and clinical treatment approaches, 关注因老年性黄斑变性而丧失视力的患者的特殊需求. The research behind today’s patent filing is the result of that effort.

“我们很高兴看到这种人机协作在游戏环境中的应用，对AMD面临的关键健康挑战产生了影响,” said Marc Christensen, Dean of SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering. “我们认为这个活动是人工智能和游戏技术如何渗透到我们日常生活的深远角落的一个主要例子.”

About BALANCED | Media Technology

BALANCED是一家以目标为导向的AI公司，通过人类计算游戏将人类互动和直觉众包，从而为游戏带来目标. 通过其HEWMEN平台通过在线社区和游戏众包人工智能, balance通过创造人工智能技术来帮助研究人员研究新的治疗方法，从而减少研究时间和成本，提高研究效率. BALANCED, a 2019 and 2020 Tech Titans® winner, 被多个组织认可为行业创新者，包括达拉斯商业杂志和达拉斯创新. Headed by founders in data science, computing, video game development, and the medical/healthcare industries, the company is based in McKinney, Texas, and can be found online at balancedmediatechnology.com.

About SMU

SMU is the nationally ranked global research university in the dynamic city of Dallas.  SMU’s alumni, faculty and more than 12,在8所授予学位的学校中，000名学生在引领行业变革的过程中展现了企业家精神, communities and the world.

About the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering

SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, founded in 1925, is one of the oldest engineering schools in the Southwest. The school offers eight undergraduate and 29 graduate programs, including master’s and doctoral degrees, through the departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Computer Science; Electrical and Computer Engineering; Engineering Management, Information, and Systems; and Mechanical Engineering. Lyle students participate in programs in the unique Deason Innovation Gym, providing the tools and space to work on immersion design projects and competitions to accelerate leadership development and the framework for innovation; the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership, helping students develop nontechnical skills to prepare them for leadership in diverse technical fields; the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education, developing new methodologies for incorporating engineering education into K-12 schools; and the Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity, 将技术创新与商业专长相结合，解决全球贫困问题.

About Retina Foundation of the Southwest

Established in 1975, 视网膜基金会是一个世界知名的研究机构，其坚定不移的使命是通过创新的研究和治疗来预防视力丧失和恢复视力. 视网膜基金会通过实验室科学和临床试验为各种眼病患者开发潜在的治疗方法. Our three core research areas are age-related macular degeneration (AMD), inherited eye diseases, and pediatric eye conditions. Each year, the Retina Foundation sees more than 2,300 adults, children, and infants, referred by their eye care provider, completely free of charge for specialized vision evaluations, genetic testing and counseling, and participation in clinical trials.