A tool artificialς intelligenceeye-scanner can accurately predict a person's heart disease risk in less than a minute, researchers report.
The researchers developed a fully automated AI-enabled tool, Quartz, to assess the potential of retinal vessel imaging – plus known risk factors – to predict vascular health. 
They used the tool to scan images from 88.052 UK Biobank participants, ages 40 to 69 years old. The researchers specifically looked at the width, vessel area, and degree of curvature of arteries and veins in the retina to develop predictive models for stroke, heart attack, and death from circulatory disease.
They then applied the models to retinal images of 7.411 participants, aged 48 to 92, from the European community researchs for Cancer (Epic)-Norfolk. Quartz's performance was compared to the widely used Framingham risk score framework.
Everyone's health was followed for an average of seven to nine years. In men, the width, curvature, and width variation of veins and arteries in their retinas were found to be significant predictors of death from circulatory disease.
In women, artery area and width, vein curvature, and width variation also contributed to predicting risk. The AI tool leveraged data from participants, e.g record smoking, taking medicines to treat high blood pressure and previous heart attacks.
The researchers found that retinal data calculated by Quartz was significantly associated with cardiovascular disease, death and stroke.
Their findings were published in British Journal of Ophthalmology.
