ASCRS 2025: AnnMarie Hipsley, DPT, PhD, presents AI-driven digital twin for simulation of aging eye

AnnMarie Hipsley, DPT, PhD, presented a transformative concept in ophthalmic innovation: the “digital twin” of the human eye, embodied in the Virtual Eye Simulation Analyzer (VESA)—a virtual, AI-driven model capable of simulating the anatomy and aging of the eye—at the 2025 American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting, held April 25 to 28 in Los Angeles, California. A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical entity, and in this case, VESA was developed over the past decade to model the full lifecycle of presbyopia.

Originally designed to explore treatment options from early to advanced stages of presbyopia, VESA creates a personalized 3D ID using topography, refractive data, and the material properties of ocular tissues. “It becomes a representation of a person’s eye,” Hipsley explained. In this study, a 52-year-old eye served as the baseline model, chosen for its biomechanical stability. Leveraging Ansys and proprietary physics-based modeling, VESA simulated changes in dioptric power, lens accommodation, and structural shifts in the sclera, lens, Bruch’s membrane, and zonular fibers.

VESA’s next step: simulation of personalized treatments tailored to specific ages and anatomical profiles. “VESA was able to calculate and spit out precision patterns for each of those stages and ages,” Hipsley said. The system’s predictive capacity opens doors to virtual IOL implantation and treatment planning, allowing innovators to “test your innovation virtually... and come up with fail-fast answers” before entering clinical trials.

With patient data stored securely on a 3D ID card, the system supports longitudinal care and privacy. “Every single patient becomes 1000 simulations of data,” Hipsley noted, positioning VESA as a future-forward tool for real-time clinical updates, predictive diagnostics, and a major step toward individualized, minimally invasive ophthalmic care.