Systems and methods are disclosed herein for detecting eye alignment during retinal imaging. In an embodiment, the system receives an infrared stream from an imaging device, the infrared stream showing characteristics of an eye of a patient. The system determines, based on the infrared stream, that the eye is improperly aligned at a first time, and outputs sensory feedback indicative of the improper alignment. The system detects, based on the infrared stream at a second time later than the first time, that the eye is properly aligned, and receives an image of a retina of the properly aligned eye from the imaging device.