An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Guardian: An artificial intelligence tool that scans eyes can accurately predict a person's risk of heart disease in less than a minute, researchers say. They used the tool to scan images from 88,052 UK Biobank participants aged 40 to 69. The researchers looked specifically at the width, vessel area and degree of curviness of the arteries and veins in the retina to develop prediction models for stroke, heart attack and death from circulatory disease. They subsequently applied the models to the retinal images of 7,411 participants, aged 48 to 92, of the European prospective investigation into cancer (Epic)-Norfolk study. The performance of Quartz was compared with the widely used Framingham risk scores framework.

An artificial intelligence tool that scans eyes can accurately predict a person's risk of heart disease in less than a minute, researchers say. The breakthrough could enable ophthalmologists and other health workers to carry out cardiovascular screening on the high street using a camera – without the need for blood tests or blood pressure checks – according to the world's largest study of its kind. Researchers found AI-enabled imaging of the retina's veins and arteries can specify the risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular death and stroke. They say the results could open the door to a highly effective, non-invasive test becoming available for people at medium to high risk of heart disease that does not have to be done in a clinic. Their findings were published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.