AI tool ‘Quartz’ finds changes in eye health linked to cognitive decline
An AI tool, ‘Quartz’, developed by scientists at City St George’s and Kingston University, has detected differences in the shape and size of blood vessels at the back of the eye that correspond to cognitive decline, potentially meaning the ‘Quartz’ technology could be used in high street opticians in the future.
In a study published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, researchers documented how they looked at 110,282 eye scans from over 63,000 people aged 40 to 69 who were enrolled into the UK Biobank between 2006 and 2010. They applied ‘Quartz’ to the images to detect the different types of small blood vessels of the retina, and compared these measurements to the cognitive scores of study participants. They found that a lower cognitive score – indicative of a decline in thinking ability – was associated with distinct changes seen in the eye scans.
Lead author of the study, Professor Chris Owen, says of the possibility of using Quartz in opticians’ appointments one day:
“It would provide an easily accessible, low cost and quick way to flag people who are at risk of developing neurodegenerative conditions in the future without the need of invasive tests.”
Read more here: https://www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2025/march/eye-blood-vessel-shape-and-size-linked-to-risk-of-cognitive-decline