New AI technology can detect early signs of more than 1,000 diseases, long before there are any symptoms, according to new research.
The computer algorithm, called MILTON, analyses patient test results commonly collected by GPs to detect patterns in the data – and predict with high confidence a disease diagnosis many years later.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, which developed the artificial intelligence tool, said it will accelerate the development of more effective and targeted treatments.
But it is also making the data freely available to other researchers, who could develop diagnostic tests that allow early preventative treatment to stop diseases in their tracks.
Slave Petrovski, who led the research, told Sky News: “For many of these diseases, by the time they manifest clinically and the individual goes to the doctor because of an ailment or visible observation that is far down the line from when the disease process began.
“There may have been a whole cascade of events that happened in the blood before it was symptomatic.
“We can pick up signatures in an individual that are highly predictive of developing diseases like Alzheimer’s, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), kidney disease and many others.”
AstraZeneca used data from 500,000 people who are part of the UK Biobank, a vast repository of health information.
MILTON analysed data from 67 routine clinical biomarkers, including detailed results from blood and urine tests, checks on blood pressure and respiratory performance, as well as weight, age and sex.
It also looked at data from 50,000 Biobank volunteers on 3,000 proteins found in blood…
