Retinal images used in mortality study

Retinal age gap could be a biomarker of ageing that is closely related to risk of mortality, according to a study carried out by researchers in China.

Findings published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology suggested retinal images could be used as a screening tool for risk assessment and delivering tailored interventions.

Fundus images sourced from the UK Biobank were analysed to develop a deep learning model and calculate retinal age gap then investigate its association with mortality risk.

The deep learning model achieved a strong correlation between retinal age and chronological age, with further investigation finding an increase in the retinal age gap was associated with increased risk of mortality causes.