Norway first in world to deploy autonomous AI eye screening technology on national scale

EyeArt AI Eye Screening System is the first FDA-cleared AI technology for autonomous detection of more-than-mild and vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy (DR). Image credit: AdobeStock/izzuan

Global artificial intelligence (AI) medical technology company Eyenuk has gotten the green light to deploy its EyeArt AI Eye Screening System in the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority.¹ With the goal of scaling the technology’s use across Norway’s National Health System in the coming years, this deployment is the first time that a national health system has broadly adopted autonomous AI technology for the detection of eye disease, according to a news release.

EyeArt is the first FDA-cleared AI technology for autonomous detection of more-than-mild and vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy (DR).¹

"[EyeArt] helps us to examine more people with diabetes," said Ulrich Spreng, medical director at the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority, in the release. "With better use of healthcare professionals' time, we expect that the waiting time for retinal examinations will be significantly reduced. A better patient overview will also provide more efficient management and control – and create the foundation for greater equality in treatment."

Norway’s South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority is the largest of Norway’s 4 regional health systems, covering 3.1 million people (over half of the country’s population) and including Oslo, Norway’s capital. The country currently has a goal of ensuring that more than 95% of patients with diabetes receive timely retinal examinations.¹ A Menon Economics report stated that achieving over 95% of eye screening coverage for patients with diabetes could reduce Norway’s annual disease burden by about NOK 250 million.²

Currently, only 55% of patients receive these examinations in the country. The health authority also “aims to expand capacity, reduce bottlenecks, and provide timely, equitable access to diabetic eye screenings” through the deployment, the release stated.¹

The contracting and deployment of EyeArt is being facilitated by Human Bytes, a Nordic specialist in the implementation and scaling of AI for health care and a current distributor for EyeArt.¹

"Diabetic retinopathy is the most common complication of diabetes and the most common cause of vision loss and blindness in the working age. The new AI solution will change the way we do retinal examinations," said Maja Gran Erke, MD, PhD, clinical project manager in the regional project Regular Retinal Examination for Diabetic Retinopathy, in the release.

In 2023, a pilot study was published in Biomedicines that assessed the implementation of DR screening in the Oslo region. The cross-sectional study of a cohort of adult patients with type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus assessed 180 eyes of 90 patients. Study authors, led by Ellen Steffenssen Sauesund, MD, of the Department of Ophthalmology, Oslo University Hospital, and Center for Eye Research and Innovative Diagnostics, Department of Ophthalmology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, 0450 Oslo, Norway, found that 62.8% of patients that were not newly diagnosed with diabetes mellitus had never had an eye examination, with the duration of diabetes mellitus for those patients being up to 18 years (median: 8 years). Additionally, it was more than 2 years since the last eye examination for 68.8% of the patients who had previously received an eye examination.³

“This study underscores the need for implementing a systematic DR screening program in the Oslo region, Norway, to better reach out to patients with DM and improve their screening adherence,” the study authors stated.³ “Timely and proper treatment can prevent or mitigate vision loss and improve the prognosis. A considerable number of patients were referred from general practitioners for not being followed by an ophthalmologist.”

References:

1. Eyenuk secures world’s first national health system deployment of autonomous AI eye screening technology. News release. GlobeNewswire. September 17, 2025. Accessed September 17, 2025. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/17/3151533/0/en/Eyenuk-Secures-World-s-First-National-Health-System-Deployment-of-Autonomous-AI-Eye-Screening-Technology.html

2. Menon Economics. VURDERING AV POTENSIALET FOR REDUKSJON AV SAMFUNNSKOSTNADER KNYTTET TIL ØYESYKDOM I NORGE MED TELEMEDISINSK AVSTANDSOPPFØLGING – EYECHECK SYSTEM. 2020. https://menon.no/uploads/images/2020-45-Eyecheck-System.pdf

3. Sauesund ES, Jørstad ØK, Brunborg C, et al. A pilot study of implementing diabetic retinopathy screening in the Oslo region, Norway: Baseline results. Biomedicines. 2023;11(4):1222. doi:10.3390/biomedicines11041222