Performance of DeepSeek, Qwen 2.5 MAX, and ChatGPT Assisting in Diagnosis of Corneal Eye Diseases, Glaucoma, and Neuro-Ophthalmology Diseases Based on Clinical Case Reports.

BACKGROUND

This study evaluates the diagnostic performance of several AI models, including Deepseek, in diagnosing corneal diseases, glaucoma, and neuro□ophthalmologic disorders.

METHODS

We retrospectively selected 53 case reports from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa, comprising 20 corneal disease cases, 11 glaucoma cases, and 22 neuro□ophthalmology cases. The case descriptions were input into DeepSeek, ChatGPT□4.0, ChatGPT□01, and Qwens 2.5 Max. These responses were compared with diagnoses rendered by human experts (corneal specialists, glaucoma attendings, and neuro□ophthalmologists). Diagnostic accuracy and interobserver agreement, defined as the percentage difference between each AI model's performance and the average human expert performance, were determined.

RESULTS

DeepSeek achieved an overall diagnostic accuracy of 79.2%, with specialty-specific accuracies of 90.0% in corneal diseases, 54.5% in glaucoma, and 81.8% in neuro□ophthalmology. ChatGPT□01 outperformed the other models with an overall accuracy of 84.9% (85.0% in corneal diseases, 63.6% in glaucoma, and 95.5% in neuro□ophthalmology), while Qwens exhibited a lower overall accuracy of 64.2% (55.0% in corneal diseases, 54.5% in glaucoma, and 77.3% in neuro□ophthalmology). Interobserver agreement analysis revealed that in corneal diseases, DeepSeek differed by -3.3% (90.0% vs 93.3%), ChatGPT□01 by -8.3%, and Qwens by -38.3%. In glaucoma, DeepSeek outperformed the human expert average by +3.0% (54.5% vs 51.5%), while ChatGPT□4.0 and ChatGPT□01 exceeded it by +12.1%, and Qwens was +3.0% above the human average. In neuro□ophthalmology, DeepSeek and ChatGPT□4.0 were 9.1% lower than the human average, ChatGPT□01 exceeded it by +4.6%, and Qwens was 13.6% lower.

CONCLUSIONS

ChatGPT□01 demonstrated the highest overall diagnostic accuracy, especially in neuro□ophthalmology, while DeepSeek and ChatGPT□4.0 showed comparable performance. Qwens underperformed relative to the other models, especially in corneal diseases. Although these AI models exhibit promising diagnostic capabilities, they currently lag behind human experts in certain areas, underscoring the need for a collaborative integration of clinical judgment.

PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY

This study evaluated how well several artificial intelligence (AI) models diagnose eye diseases compared to human experts. We tested four AI systems across three types of eye conditions: diseases of the cornea, glaucoma, and neuro-ophthalmologic disorders. Overall, one AI model, ChatGPT-01, performed the best, correctly diagnosing about 85% of cases, and it excelled in neuro-ophthalmology by correctly diagnosing 95.5% of cases. Two other models, DeepSeek and ChatGPT-4.0, each achieved an overall accuracy of around 79%, while the Qwens model performed lower, with an overall accuracy of about 64%. When compared with human experts, who achieved very high accuracy in corneal diseases (93.3%) and neuro-ophthalmology (90.9%) but lower in glaucoma (51.5%), the AI models showed mixed results. In glaucoma, for instance, some AI models even outperformed human experts slightly, while in corneal diseases, all AI models were less accurate than the experts. These findings indicate that while AI shows promise as a supportive tool in diagnosing eye conditions, it still needs further improvement. Combining AI with human clinical judgment appears to be the best approach for accurate eye disease diagnosis.

KEY SUMMARY POINTS

With the rising burden of eye diseases and the inherent diagnostic challenges for complex conditions like glaucoma and neuro-ophthalmologic disorders, there is an unmet need for innovative diagnostic tools to support clinical decision-making. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of four AI models across three ophthalmologic subspecialties, testing the hypothesis that advanced language models can achieve accuracy levels comparable to human experts. Our results showed that ChatGPT-01 achieved the highest overall accuracy (84.9%), excelling in neuro-ophthalmology with a 95.5% accuracy, while DeepSeek and ChatGPT-4.0 each achieved 79.2%, and Qwens reached 64.2%. In glaucoma, AI model accuracies ranged from 54.5% to 63.6%, with some models slightly surpassing the human expert average of 51.5%, underscoring the diagnostic difficulty of this condition. These findings highlight the potential of AI as a valuable adjunct to clinical judgment in ophthalmology, although further research and the integration of multimodal data are essential to optimize these tools for routine clinical practice.