AI tool can measure fat around the heart and calculate one's diabetes risk

Accumulation of fat specifically around the heart has long been linked to cardiovascular and metabolic disease but until now there hasn't been a simple way to measure this. A new artificial intelligence tool has been developed that can quantify these fat deposits from regular MRI images. Pericardial adipose tissue (PAT) is a particular collection of fat tissue surrounding the surface of the heart. High levels of PAT, separate to body weight or body mass index, have been linked to increased risk of diabetes and coronary heart disease but the association has remained a hypothesis due to measurement challenges. The best way we can currently measure PAT levels is using a computed tomography (CT) scan.