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The project will combine eye images with NHS records and community data, initially targeting early signs of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
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UKRI’s £12.2 million award will fund a development-and-validation program, not a proven screening service: NORI plans to combine retinal images with NHS records and community data to detect early diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The University of Sunderland hub intends to test the technology in real healthcare settings and pursue national and international markets. Dementia and stroke are possible later applications, not current targets.
NORI is one of five new UKRI-backed healthcare hubs focused on technology for diagnosing illness.
The proposed analysis looks for health clues in blood vessels and nerve tissue at the back of the eye, alongside other data.
The funded work includes testing in healthcare settings; the article provides no evidence that the system already detects disease accurately.
Routine eye scans are the starting point for a £12.2 million government-backed project at the University of Sunderland. Its Northern Ophthalmic Research and Innovation hub, known as NORI, will develop AI to look for early signs of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, with the aim of helping patients receive a diagnosis sooner.
The money comes through UK Research and Innovation, or UKRI. Matthew Campbell, NORI’s co-director and the university’s interim pro vice-chancellor for health, said it would support technology development, testing in real healthcare settings and efforts to reach national and international markets.
The approach rests on clues in the tiny blood vessels and nerve tissue at the back of the eye. NORI says these can reveal information about a person’s wider health before symptoms appear. The project aims to use those clues to identify illnesses beyond conditions affecting sight.
AI will analyse routine eye scans alongside NHS health records and community data. The planned system will look for subtle changes that may signal early disease. Images are therefore one part of the proposed analysis, rather than its only source of health information.
Diabetes and cardiovascular disease are the initial targets. The approach could later extend to dementia and strokes, but those are possible future applications—not the project’s starting focus.
Earlier diagnosis means better outcomes for patients and less pressure on our NHS, and technology has a vital role to play.
Chris McDonald, science minister
That makes testing part of the funded work ahead: the award supports a route toward clinical use, not evidence that the proposed disease detection already works.
NORI is one of five new UKRI-backed healthcare hubs focused on technology for diagnosing illness. McDonald visited the Sunderland hub on Thursday and said he hoped the funding would help patients access treatment more quickly.
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