Recently, the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI) and Professor Jimmy Liu’s iMed team from Southern University of Science and Technology jointly launched a new “AI + Discipline” micro-certification course titled Artificial Intelligence + Ophthalmic Healthcare: Frontier Applications and Precision Diagnosis and Treatment. The course has been officially released on the International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) platform and is open to global learners free of charge.

The course is an important part of IIOE’s continued efforts to expand its “AI + Discipline” micro-certification course system. It aims to help university teachers, students, and relevant professional learners around the world understand how artificial intelligence can be applied in specialised fields, while promoting deeper integration between higher education course content and frontier technological development.

Course Link: https://www.iioe.org/#/train-new/micro-cert-detail/1082d636-ff0b-4f4c-b784-0763fc880a94

Course Introduction

This course focuses on the cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence in ophthalmic healthcare, taking "how AI sees the eye" as its logical starting point. Spanning 17 lectures, the course systematically analyzes how AI technologies permeate the entire workflow of ophthalmic disease screening, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. Building upon the latest research findings, it explores AI's breakthroughs in anterior segment structure analysis—including corneal endothelial cell segmentation, anterior chamber angle classification, iris motion trajectory analysis, and cataract grading—as well as posterior segment lesion identification covering fundus lesion segmentation, macular OCT layer analysis, optic disc assessment, and choroidal evaluation. The curriculum also delves into generative large-scale models, explainable AI, and federated learning, while charting the future direction of 3D+t spatiotemporal computing. Leveraging core technologies such as deep learning, multimodal large models, hybrid transformer encoder-decoders, and 3D+t spatiotemporal computing, the course examines how intelligent algorithms empower precision ophthalmic care while addressing the healthcare system's "impossible triangle" of high quality, broad coverage, and cost control.

Professor Jimmy Liu’s iMed team has previously collaborated with IIOE to launch micro-certification courses including AI + Education: Ushering in a New Era of Education and AI + Medicine: Applications and Breakthroughs.

AI + Education: Ushering in a New Era of Education: https://www.iioe.org/#/train-new/micro-cert-detail/50e0188d-611c-4549-b3b8-6ba2883b5ec7