Researchers say an artificial intelligence tool can predict a person's risk of heart disease in less than a minute.
According to the world's largest study of its kind, a camera can be used to screen for cardiovascular disease on the high street.
Artificial intelligence can be used to determine the risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular death and stroke, according to researchers.
The results could open the door to a highly effective, non-invasive test for people at high risk of heart disease that doesn't need to be done in a clinic.
Their work was published in a journal.
Prof Alicja Rudnicka told the Guardian that the tool could alert someone in 60 seconds or less. She said that if someone found out their risk was higher than expected, they could be prescribed a drug.
Rudnicka said that it could improve cardiovascular health and save lives.
Cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke are some of the leading causes of ill health and death. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death around the world. One in four deaths in the UK are caused by it.
Several tests can be used to predict risk, but they are not always able to identify those who will develop or die of heart disease.
The gender of the patient is at the center of the issue.
Researchers developed a fully automated tool to assess the potential of retinal vasculature images to predict cardiovascular disease and death.
The UK Biobank participants were scanned using the tool. Predicting strokes, heart attacks and death from circulatory disease can be done with the help of the researchers.
The models were applied to the images of 7,411 people who were part of the European prospective investigation into cancer. The performance of the two frameworks was compared.
Everyone's health was tracked for an average of 7 to 9 years. The differences in veins and arteries in men's retinas were found to be predictors of death from circulatory disease. Risk prediction was made possible by the artery area and vein width.
Participants' history of smoking, drugs to treat high blood pressure, and previous heart attacks were included in the data used by the tool.
The data from the retina was found to be associated with cardiovascular disease, deaths and strokes.
It is possible to reach a higher proportion of the population in the community because of high street availability and because blood sampling is not needed.
Dr Ify Mordi and Prof Emanuele Trucco, who were not involved with the study, said the idea of eye checks for heart health was attractive.
The results show that the retina can be a useful and potentially disruptive source of information for CVD risk.
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