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Ophthalmologists may soon be able to carry out cardiovascular screening by checking the retina – without the need for blood tests.
An artificial intelligence tool that scans eyes can accurately predict a person’s risk of heart disease in less than a minute, the study says.
AI-enabled imaging of the retina’s veins and arteries can specify the risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular death and stroke.
A highly effective, non-invasive test could become available for people at risk of heart disease that does not have to be done in a clinic.
If someone learned their risk was higher than expected, they could be prescribed statins or offered another intervention, said the lead author, Prof Alicja Rudnicka.
They used the tool to scan images from 88,052 UK Biobank participants aged 40 to 69.
They subsequently applied the models to the retinal images of 7,411 participants, aged 48 to 92.
Their findings were published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology and the study was carried out at St George’s, University of London.
