Who said that it’s not important to have beautiful and attractive eyes? That could even lend Artificial Intelligence a helping hand. Jokes aside, for now! It has now been discovered that through the power of a new AI system that was created with the collaboration of scientists from various parts of the world, we can know if someone is at high risk of a heart attack after analyzing eye scans, according to SciTechDaily.com.
Scientists add a lot of faith in their newly developed AI system, research led by the University of Leeds. Deep learning techniques were used for training the AI. The scientists claim that the new invention can detect signs of heart disease with an accuracy of 70% to 80%. Furthermore, a routine visit to an eye clinic could be enough to tell if a person is at high risk of heart attack or not, as the AI system can do its job even in such situations.
Changes to the blood vessels in the retina represent the key
The changes that occur to the retina’s tiny blood vessels are the indicators of vascular disease, including heart problems.
Alex Frangi, a professor from the University of Leeds who supervised the research, declared as quoted by SciTechDaily.com:
Cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks, are the leading cause of early death worldwide and the second-largest killer in the UK. This causes chronic ill-health and misery worldwide.
This technique opens-up the possibility of revolutionizing the screening of cardiac disease. Retinal scans are comparatively cheap and routinely used in many optician practices. As a result of automated screening, patients who are at high risk of becoming ill could be referred to specialist cardiac services.
The scans could also be used to track the early signs of heart disease.
It’s great to see that scientists are becoming better at targeting health issues!