KU Leuven helps develop an AI system which can predict risk of heart attack based on eye scan

Doctors have recognised that changes to the tiny blood vessels in the retina are indicators of broader vascular disease, including problems with the heart. An international team of researchers have now developed an AI system that analyses retinal scans to identify patients at a high risk of a heart attack.

The researchers used deep learning, a complex series of algorithms that enable computers to identify patterns in data and to make predictions.

During the deep learning process, the AI system analysed the retinal and cardiac scans of more than 5,000 people. The system identified associations between pathology in the retina and changes in the patient’s heart. The UK Biobank provided data for the study.

Once the image patterns were learned, the AI system could estimate the size and pumping efficiency of the left ventricle, one of the heart’s four chambers, from retinal scans alone. An enlarged ventricle is linked with an increased risk of heart disease.

With information on the estimated size of the left ventricle and its pumping efficiency combined with basic demographic data about the patient, their age and sex, the AI system could make a prediction about their risk of a heart attack over the subsequent 12 months.
Currently, details about the size and pumping efficiency of a patient’s left ventricle can only be determined if they have diagnostic tests such as echocardiography or MRI scan of the heart. increasing healthcare costs and waiting times in other countries.


Source: KU Leuven