Selfies Could Be Used to Detect Cardiovascular Diseases, Based on Research

People of all ages almost always want to take selfies using their latest gadgets. Now, you could make good use of those selfies to detect cardiovascular diseases. The European Heart Journal did a research that proves how a deep learning computer algorithm could detect coronary artery disease (CAD) using four photos of a person.

Safer than going to the hospital

Even though further studies on a larger group of people are needed, the research team explained how the algorithm could be useful. They noted that it could be a useful tool to know if a person suffers from heart diseases. This type of test is convenient now especially that there is a pandemic. It is safer to send pictures than go to the hospital in person.

Research team leader, Professor Zhe Zheng, explained their study in detail. He said that it is the first study that uses artificial intelligence (AI) on facial features to detect heart diseases. Their study could help make a tool to help assess a person's risk of getting cardiovascular diseases. He noted that patients could go to clinics to take pictures or they could take selfies for their screening. 

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Professor Zhe Zheng shared that their goal is to help high-risk people assess heart disease risk. Patients could use an application by themselves before they visit a clinic. The lead author also said that it could be a simple, cheap, and effective way of knowing if patients need further investigation. He noted that they still need to see if it works well with other ethnic groups and people from other countries. 

(Photo : unsplash/Mateus Campos Felipe)

Do not require clinical tests

The algorithm performed moderately but clinical tests did not improve its results, Professor Ji said. It means that facial photos alone could help predict a person's risk of getting heart disease. He noted that the cheek, forehead, and nose could help with the detection. However, one should note that there is a 46 percent false-positive rate. 

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The research team noted that this approach could be useful for places where there are weak screening programs for heart diseases. Patients could easily take selfies as a selection process to help control the flow of people being fed to the healthcare systems. 

Cons of the "selfie" approach

The team also noted that the cons of the "selfie" approach could raise some ethical questions. People could easily extract sensitive health record data from a facial photo. It could cause a threat to personal data protection. The team said that researchers should revisit the use of AI in medicine. They fear the misuse of genetic data. 

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Professor Zheng and his team believe that future researchers should take note of ethical issues that may arise. They noted that they should take care of the privacy, insurance, and other social implications with the use of this tool. They advised other research teams to ensure that the tool will be used for medical purposes only.