Artificial intelligence-based body composition analysis using computed tomography images predicts both prevalence and incidence of diabetes mellitus.

Aim/introduction: We assess the efficacy of artificial intelligence (AI)-based, fully automated, volumetric body composition metrics in predicting the risk of diabetes.

Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional and 10-year retrospective longitudinal study. The cross-sectional analysis included health check-up data of 15,330 subjects with abdominal computed tomography (CT) images between January 1, 2011, and September 30, 2012. Of these, 10,570 subjects with available follow-up data were included in the longitudinal analyses. The volume of each body segment included in the abdominal CT images was measured using AI-based image analysis software.

Results: Visceral fat (VF) proportion and VF/subcutaneous fat (SF) ratio increased with age, and both strongly predicted the presence and risk of developing diabetes. Optimal cut-offs for VF proportion were 24% for men and 16% for women, while VF/SF ratio values were 1.2 for men and 0.5 for women. The subjects with higher VF/SF ratio and VF proportion were associated with a greater risk of having diabetes (adjusted OR 2.0 [95% CI 1.7-2.4] in men; 2.9 [2.2-3.9] in women). In subjects with normal glucose tolerance, higher VF proportion and VF/SF ratio were associated with higher risk of developing prediabetes or diabetes (adjusted HR 1.3 [95% CI 1.1-1.4] in men; 1.4 [1.2-1.7] in women). These trends were consistently observed across each specified cut-off value.

Conclusions: AI-based volumetric analysis of abdominal CT images can be useful in obtaining body composition data and predicting the risk of diabetes.