ISLAMABAD, JUNE 24 (ONLINE): Soon, retinal scans may be able to predict heart attacks. New research has found that decreased complexity in the blood vessels at the back of the retina in the human eye is an early biomarker for myocardial infarction.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor decades, I\u2019ve always lectured that the eye is not just the window to the soul, but the window to the brain and the window to the body as well,\u201d said ophthalmologist Dr. Howard R. Krauss, speaking to Medical News Today about the new research.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI [artificial intelligence] plus \u2018deep learning\u2019 is proving that to be the case,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cardiologist Dr. Rigved Tadwalkar, who was not involved in the research, told MNT that the findings were interesting.<\/p>\n
\u201c[A]lthough we have known that examination of retinal vasculature can produce insights on cardiovascular health, this study contributes to the evidence base that characteristics of the retinal vasculature can be used for individual risk prediction for myocardial infarction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis [study] representsanother tool in the toolbox to help determine who could potentially benefit from earlier preventative intervention [when it comes to heart attacks].\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Dr. Rigved Tadwalkar<\/p>\n
\u201cThe greatest appeal,\u201d said Dr. Krauss, who was also not involved in the study, \u201cis that the photography station may be remote to the clinician, and perhaps, someday, even accessible via a smartphone.\u201d
\nThe research was presented on June 12 at the European Society of Human Genetics.<\/p>\n
Retinal scans and blood vessels
\nAccording to a press release, the project utilized data from the UK Biobank, which contains demographic, epidemiological, clinical, and genotyping data, as well as retinal images, for more than 500,000 individuals. Under demographic data, the data included individuals\u2019 age, sex, smoking habits, systolic blood pressure, and body-mass index (BMI).<\/p>\n
The researchers identified about 38,000 white-British participants, whose retinas had been scanned and who later had heart attacks. The biobank provided retinal fundus images and genotyping information for these individuals.<\/p>\n
At the back of the retina, on either side where it connects to the optic nerve, are two large systems of blood vessels, or vasculature. In a healthy individual, each resembles a tree branch, with similarly complex fractal geometry.<\/p>\n
For some people, however, this complexity is largely absent, and branching is greatly simplified.
\nIn this research, an artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning model revealed a connection between low retinal vascular complexity and coronary artery disease.<\/p>\n
The power of AI<\/p>\n
\u201cThe beauty of utilizing AI and deep learning is that as the database builds, one may learn of associations, and the predictive value of retinal evaluations, in ways which we may not even suspect today,\u201d said Dr. Krauss.<\/p>\n
Dr. Krauss added there are advantages of using AI and deep learning in such research.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI is capable of looking at a photograph and, with 97% accuracy, telling whether it\u2019s a male or female. No ophthalmologist can look in the eye, or look at a photograph, and tell you if it\u2019s male or female,\u201d beyond guessing, he said.<\/p>\n
The AI model was moderately successful when considering vascular density alone. However, Villaplana-Velasco described its accuracy as \u201csignificantly reduced when compared with a model that also included demographic data, and with established risk models.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when we just included age and sex to retinal vascular complexity, we found a significant improvement,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Specific genetic regions<\/p>\n
A third factor improved the predictive power of the researchers\u2019 model even further.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur genetic analysis showed,\u201d said lead author and Ph.D. student Ana Villaplana-Velasco, \u201cthat four genetic regions associated with retinal vascular complexity have a role in MI-related biological processes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that her team was interested in further studying this link \u201cby collaborating with other research groups focused on in-vitro experiments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe findings make sense, in that a true association was seen between fractal dimension [complexity] and incident cardiovascular disease,\u201d said Dr. Tadwalkar.<\/p>\n
He noted that \u201cthe model also integrates [a polygenic] risk score, which can significantly improve precision on its own.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, JUNE 24 (ONLINE): Soon, retinal scans may be able to predict heart attacks. New research has found that decreased complexity in the blood vessels at the back of the retina in the human eye is an early biomarker for myocardial infarction. \u201cFor decades, I\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n
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