Could you imagine that much of images?

Abstract

An individual's life or his/her entire medical history, from conception to death, may be documented as ultrasound images, radiographies, tomographies, photos, movies of surgical procedures, and measurable data converted into graphics illustrating descriptive and comparative statistics. Could anyone have predicted this 20 years ago? This is possible and not only limited to ophthalmology. Most, if not all, medical areas are capturing, analyzing, and saving patient data from early development to senescence, and the information supporting this technology is growing day by day. New medical studies, addressing the issue of medical image technology in different areas, are being published. Recently launched medical journals are entirely dedicated to the science of medical image analysis. Moreover, major clinical medical journals have specific sections dedicated to diagnostic imaging (1) . What is the impact of this image revolution on modern medicine that is strongly affecting developments within ophthalmology?Before a solution regarding portability and safe storage of all this information is available, there are three major concerns for daily practice in ophthalmology. To adapt to and survive in the image data avalanche, ophthalmologists are sometimes forced to make decisions on topics hardly covered by their skills and regular training, including security of digital data, decisions on treatment based on new and unique parameters, and communication of prognosis based on database comparisons and metadata analyses. Medical schools and residency programs will be required to prepare and teach trainees on how to wisely deal with these challenges.Being one of the pioneers in the use and storage of diagnostic images, ophthalmology has a particular responsibility in this scenario, and over the past few years, it has been a leading medical specialty with regard to introducing equipment and generating image and/or digital analytical graphics to support diagnosis and disease outcomes (Table 1).The first published human fundus photography was developed in 1886 by Jackman and Webster. At first, these images were quite blurry. However, improvements in instrumentation and technology enabled the use of fundus photography for clinical purposes in 1926 with the release of the first commercially available fundus camera by Carl Zeiss Company (2) . These retina images represented a major contribution in the management of diabetic retinopathy, infections, and neoplasias, among other diseases. Before that, and until recently, direct microscopy and color pencils were used in eye clinics worldwide to draw and illustrate vascular changes, perimetric fields, ocular surface changes, and other findings. These manual resources were standardized by reputed experts in ophthalmology, and although useful, they were very dependent on the skills, time, and patience of the observer/painter (3) . Following fundus photography, the first member of the family and grandfather of the actual image eye center, generations of machines started to emerge in hospital...