This is a big step forward scientifically, Google AI officials said, because it is not imitating an existing diagnostic but rather using machine learning to uncover a surprising new way to predict these problems. What's more, the new system shows what parts of the eye image lead to successful predictions, giving researchers new leads into what causes cardiovascular disease.

Google and its health-tech arm Verily have found that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) could help identify signals of heart diseases through retinal images. "AI offers us the potential for new, less invasive tests for heart health -- predicting cardiovascular results from retinal images with computer vision -- encouraging early results!," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said. The results of the Google AI research could, "Prediction of Cardiovascular Risk Factors from Retinal Fundus Photographs via Deep Learning" in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Google's Breakthrough Research
Researchers at Google used retinal fundal images, which show blood vessels at the back of the eye, to predict various risk factors, such as age, gender, blood pressure, and smoking, that influence major adverse cardiac events.

How is possible??

Medical procedure to take picture of interior surface of eye. Low powered microscope and bright light is used to capture detailed image .Identifies and tracks changes in the eye. Accurate diagnosis with appropriate treatment plan.