Diabetes can be a chronic and lifelong condition, affecting quality of life for patients and significantly impacting NHS resources. Diabetes is associated with reduced life expectancy owing to a greater risk of heart disease, stroke, peripheral neuropathy, renal disease, blindness and amputation. The NHS currently spends at least £10 billion a year on diabetes, which is around 10% of its entire annual budget, and almost 80% of the diabetes spending is on treating complications. Earlier identification of a patient with increased risk of diabetes picked up during a “routine” CT scan could result in earlier intervention, including medication and lifestyle changes, and prevent progression of the disease or, in the case of pre-diabetes, stop the onset of the condition.
Caristo Diagnostics has developed Fat Health which is intended to analyse 20,000 scans to train its AI algorithm and develop rapid and reliable AI analysis of CT scans to deliver early risk prediction of developing diabetes. Fat Health detects fat tissue inflammation, which is a reliable indicator of diabetes-related cardiometabolic risk, using new AI techniques applied to computed tomography (CT) scans completed as part of care for other health concerns.
HIOTV performed a feasibility study to evaluate the technology’s utility in the diabetes care pathway. This partnership helped Caristo to develop their offering and more easily identify patients at risk of developing diabetes.
