Researchers have developed an eye test, measuring the veins and arteries of the retina, that can predict the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, a new study reveals.
- An eye test, which works through artificial intelligence (AI) and retina scans, could accurately predict cardiovascular disease and the risk of death.
- This technique could lead to a screening program and treatment prescriptions long before the first symptoms of cardiovascular disease appear.
Blood tests and blood pressure measurement, soon outdated? An eye test, which combines artificial intelligence (AI) with scans of the veins and arteries of the retina – a membrane at the back of the eyes that contains light-sensitive cells – could accurately predict cardiovascular disease and the risk of death. This is revealed by a new study published online in British Journal of Ophthalmology.
Cardiovascular diseases: they could be detected long before
This revolutionary technique could lead to a screening program, allowing doctors to prescribe medications and lifestyle changes decades before the first symptoms of heart disease appear.
“AI-based vasculometry risk prediction is fully automated, inexpensive, noninvasive, and has the potential to reach a higher proportion of the population in the community due to its accessibility”the researchers said in a communicated.
Artificial intelligence: how does this test work?
The researchers developed an algorithm called QUARTZ, based on retinal images of tens of thousands of adults between the ages of 40 and 69. It focuses on the width, area and curvature (or tortuosity) of tiny blood vessels, called arterioles and venules, located in the retina.
For their study, they used data from the UK Biobank (88,052 individuals) and the European Prospective Cancer Survey, EPIC-Norfolk (5,862 participants), with a follow-up period of seven to nine years in average, during which there were 528 deaths due to cardiovascular disease. In men, arteriolar and venular width, tortuosity and surface variation have emerged as important predictors of death from cardiovascular disease. In women, they helped predict risk as well.
“Using retinal screening in this way would likely require a significant increase in the number of ophthalmologists or otherwise trained evaluators”conclude the researchers.