Demographics Prediction and Heatmap Generation From OCT Images of Anterior Segment of the Eye: A Vision Transformer Model Study.

PURPOSE

To predict demographic characteristics from anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) images of eyes using a Vision Transformer (ViT) model.

METHODS

A total of 2970 AS-OCT images were used to train, validate, and test a ViT to predict age and sex, and 2616 images were used for height, weight, and body mass index (BMI). The main outcome measure was the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the ViT.

RESULTS

The ViT achieved the largest AUC (0.910) for differentiating age ≤75 versus >75 years, followed by age ≤60 versus 60-75 versus >75 years (AUC, 0.844), and for discriminating sex (AUC, 0.665). The prediction abilities for the other demographic characteristics were lower: an AUC of 0.521 for classifying height ≤170 versus >170 cm in males and ≤155 versus >155 cm in females; 0.522 for weight <70 versus ≥70 kg in males and 0.503 for <55 versus ≥55 kg in females, and 0.517 for BMI <23 versus 23-25 versus ≥25 kg/m2. Heatmaps highlighted the area of the iridocorneal angle for its contribution to the prediction of age ≤75 versus >75 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the ViT demonstrated a good ability to classify age from AS-OCT images, it performed poorly for sex, height, weight, and BMI. The heatmap obtained of the prediction will provide clues to understanding the age-related anterior segment changes in eyes.

TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE

The ViT can determine age-related anterior segment structural changes using AS-OCT images, which will aid clinicians in the management of ocular diseases.