A tool powered by artificial intelligence that uses high-speed video to detect changes in blood flow in skin on the face and hands may offer a new way to screen for high blood pressure and diabetes without the use of blood pressure cuffs, blood tests or wearable devices, new research suggests. The study found the system accurately detected the vast majority of high blood pressure and diabetes cases in patients in a hospital setting in Japan. Findings are being presented Sunday at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago.
They are considered preliminary until full results are published in a peer-reviewed journal. The contact-free system would allow people to monitor high blood pressure, or hypertension, and diabetes "in the comfort of their own homes without having to undergo any tests," according to the study's lead researcher Ryoko Uchida, a project researcher in the department of advanced cardiology at the University of Tokyo. Video monitoring allows for early detection of disease "in a noninvasive, non-contact and non-active manner, without having to constantly wear a device or go to a hospital for an examination.
" Both hypertension and diabetes cause damage to blood vessels and subtly alter the way blood flows through the vessels. Researchers used high-speed video at 150 frames per second to capture pulse wave and blood flow movements in the face and hands of 215 people, including people previously diagnosed with hypertension and Type 1 or Type 2 di.