Artificial intelligence estimated age from eyes: The margin of error dropped to 2.5 years!

The retina, located at the back of the eye, may offer new clues about aging.

Scientists from Seoul National University and Seoul National University Hospital in South Korea have developed an artificial intelligence model that estimates a person's age by analyzing retinal images.

In the research published in the peer-reviewed science journal GeroScience, a total of 29 thousand 530 retinal images taken from 7 thousand 535 people were used.

HE PREDICTED THE AGE WITH A 2.5 YEAR MARGIN OF ERROR

The researchers also tested the developed artificial intelligence model on different groups.

It was determined that the model could predict the real age of people with an average margin of error of 2.53 to 2.66 years.

Scientists then focused not only on age estimation, but also on the difference between the "retinal age" calculated by artificial intelligence and the person's chronological age. This difference was defined as the "retinal age difference" in the study.

THE RETINA LOOKS “OLDER” IN DIABETES

One of the remarkable findings of the research was revealed in diabetic patients.

The retinas of people diagnosed with diabetes were estimated to be 2.52 years older on average compared to healthy people in the same age group.

It was observed that the retinal age difference was approximately half a year higher in active smokers and 0.46 years higher in ex-smokers.

A LINK HAS ALSO BEEN FOUND WITH CATARACT AND MACULA DEGENERATION

Researchers reached similar results in some eye diseases.

The average estimated retinal age of eyes with cataracts was 1.86 years higher, and that of eyes with age-related macular degeneration was approximately 0.60 years higher.

On the other hand, no significant relationship was found between hypertension and high cholesterol and retinal age difference.

EYES CAN GIVE CLUES ABOUT YOUR GENERAL HEALTH

The retina is among the few areas in the body where both vessels and nerve tissue can be directly imaged.

For this reason, in recent years, retinal images have been used not only for eye diseases; It is emphasized that it may also carry signs of cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders and some changes related to aging.

The new study also points out that retinal images can be one of the indicators that can be used to monitor the aging process.

“BIOLOGICAL AGE” WARNING FROM RESEARCHERS

Researchers underline that the results should not be considered a direct "biological age test".

In order to be able to say that retinal age shows the person's true biological age, the method needs to be tested in long-term studies and compared with different aging indicators.