Automated retinal microvascular quantification as a predictor of cardiovascular disease risk in UK Biobank
Dr Alicja Rudnicka and her colleagues at St George’s, University of London, are studying if retinal blood vessels in the back of the eye could be a ‘window’ into blood vessel health. Changes in the shape and size of retinal blood vessels are linked to higher risk of heart and circulatory disease in later life, and are also linked to risk factors including blood pressure and cholesterol. Measuring retinal blood vessels may be a good, non-invasive way to monitor blood vessel health. But carrying out large studies to confirm this is difficult without a significant technological advance. Dr Rudnicka and her team have developed accurate and efficient automated software to analyse retinal images. They have validated their automated analysis using retinal images from over 8000 participants in the EPIC clinical study. The team were able to confirm a link between the size and shape of retinal vessel, and blood pressure and cholesterol To assess whether the retinal scanning technology can be used to determine heart and circulatory disease risk in even larger datasets, Dr Rudnicka will use the software to analyse 150,000 retinal images from 70,000 UK Biobank participants. The research team will release the results to the wider scientific community, increasing the value of the Biobank resource. She will investigate if retinal changes occur before disease starts, if they could detect disease early, and if they could improve heart and circulatory disease risk scores that older people are given by their doctors. This project could reveal a new way to monitor blood vessel health and identify those at risk who need treatment.
Project details
| Grant amount | £216,475 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Project Grants |
| Application type | Project Grant |
| Start Date | 01 March 2016 |
| Duration | 2 years |
| Reference | PG/15/101/31889 |
| Status | In Progress |
