Emergence of non-artificial intelligence digital health innovations in ophthalmology: A systematic review.

The prominent rise of digital health in ophthalmology is evident in the current age of Industry 4.0. Despite the many facets of digital health, there has been a greater slant in interest and focus on artificial intelligence recently. Other major elements of digital health like wearables could also substantially impact patient-focused outcomes but have been relatively less explored and discussed. In this review, we comprehensively evaluate the use of non-artificial intelligence digital health tools in ophthalmology. 53 papers were included in this systematic review - 25 papers discuss virtual or augmented reality, 14 discuss mobile applications and 14 discuss wearables. Most papers focused on the use of technologies to detect or rehabilitate visual impairment, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. Overall, the findings on patient-focused outcomes with the adoption of these technologies are encouraging. Further validation, large-scale studies and earlier consideration of real-world barriers are warranted to enable better real-world implementation.