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According to a new world’s largest study of its kind, an artificial intelligence tool can scan eyes and accurately predict a person’s risk of “silent killer” heart diseases, in less than a minute. The research was published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology and can have significant implications like carrying out cardiovascular screening without the need for blood tests or checking the blood pressure level.
This breakthrough can let doctors, and healthcare workers, including ophthalmologists, examine the risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular death and stroke in any patient. According to researchers, this was achieved by AI-enabled imaging of the retina in the eye to see the veins and arteries inside it.
“This AI tool could let someone know in 60 seconds or less their level of risk,” said the study’s lead author, professor Alicja Rudnicka to the Guardian. According to her, if someone knew their risk of cardiovascular disease, timely intervention with prescribed statins and others could not only improve cardiovascular health but also save lives.
The fully automated AI-enabled tool named Quartz, reportedly, accesses the potential of retinal vasculature imaging and known risk factors which enable it to predict cardiovascular health as well as potential risks, said the study. The tool was used to scan at least 88,052 images of 40 to 69-year-olds from UK Biobank participants.
According to reports, the scientists specifically looked at aspects like the width, vessel area and degree of curvature of the arteries and veins in the retina. This data enabled them to develop prediction models for heart attack, stroke and death from circulatory disease.
Furthermore, this model was applied to retinal images of 7,411 participants of the European prospective investigation into cancer (Epic)-Norfolk study who were between the ages of 48 to 92, said the report. All the participants’ health was tracked for at least seven to nine years.
The research also showed that in men, the width, curvature and width variation of veins and arteries in the retinas were important predictors of death due to circulatory disease. On the other hand, in women, the artery area and width as well as the vein curviness and width variation were important predictors.
Over the years, various studies have shown that cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke, are some of the leading causes of health issues and death across the world. Furthermore, while there are tests that can predict the risk they are not always accurate with their estimations of who will in the future develop or die of heart disease.(WION)
