TL:DR,
- AI heart attack detection technology finds hidden coronary inflammation, which raises the risk of dying from heart disease by 20–30 times over 10 years at five NHS pilot sites.
- The AI model identifies inflammation not visible on traditional CT scans, offering a groundbreaking approach to heart attack prevention.
- A pilot project supported by NHS England is testing the technology across five hospital trusts, with potential nationwide implementation.
Technology that identifies people at risk of a heart attack in the next 10 years has been hailed as “game-changing” by scientists. The artificial intelligence (AI) model detects inflammation in the heart that does not show up on CT scans, which involve a combination of X-rays and computer technology.
A pilot project supported by NHS England is running at five hospital trusts in Oxford, Milton Keynes, Leicester, Liverpool, and Wolverhampton. A decision on its use within the NHS is expected within months.
Its developer, Oxford University spinout company Caristo Diagnostics, said it was already working to adapt the technology to prevent strokes and diabetes.
“This technology is transformative and game-changing because, for the first time, we can detect the biological processes that are invisible to the human eye, which precedes the development of narrowings and blockages within the heart,” ~ Prof Keith Channon, from the University of Oxford.
AI Heart Attack Detection: The Role of Caristo Diagnostics
As part of the pilot, patients suffering from chest pain referred for a routine CT scan have their scan analyzed by Caristo Diagnostics’ CaRi-Heart AI platform. Trained operators then assess an algorithm that detects coronary inflammation and plaque to verify the accuracy. Research has shown that increased inflammation is linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and fatal heart attacks.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) estimates approximately 7.6 million people are living with heart disease in the UK, and the annual cost to the NHS in England is £7.4bn, according to government figures.
About 350,000 patients are referred for a cardiac CT scan each year in the UK, said the BHF. The Orfan study (Oxford Risk Factors and Non-invasive Imaging), involving 40,000 patients and published in The Lancet, found that 80% of people were sent back to primary care without a defined prevention or treatment plan.
Caristo Diagnostics CEO Frank Cheng announces Series A fundraise to accelerate growth in UK and EU markets and pave the way for U.S. market entry.[Photo: Caristo]
RELATED: Decentralized Apps: Your secret to digital sovereignty now
The study, funded by BHF, found that by using AI technology, 45% of those patients were prescribed medication or encouraged to make lifestyle changes to prevent the risk of future heart attacks.
“A Huge Wake-Up Call”: A Patient’s Second Chance
Ian Pickard, 58, from Barwell, Leicestershire, had chest pain that wouldn’t go away, so he had a CT scan in November 2023. He took part in the Orfan study at the University Hospitals of Leicester, which is part of the NHS Trust.
The double-glazing salesman has now been prescribed statins and told to quit smoking and increase his exercise after tests using the AI analysis suggested he was at risk of having a heart attack.
“It’s a huge wake-up call,” Mr. Pickard said. “And when you see it on paper, you realize how serious it is. You can look at it daily and think, ‘I’ve got to do something about this‘.” Prof Charalambos Antoniades, Orfan study lead, said the tools available until now were primitive because risk calculators could only assess general risk factors, such as whether a patient has diabetes, smokes, or is obese.
He said, “Now, with this kind of [AI] technology, we know exactly which patient had the disease activity in their arteries before the disease even developed. This means we can move early to end the disease process and treat this patient to prevent the disease from developing and then prevent heart attacks from happening.”
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is assessing the technology to determine whether it should be rolled out across the NHS. It is also under review in the US and has been approved for use in Europe and Australia.
The Challenge of Equitable Access
AI in healthcare has unique applications, but its implementations bring about some concerns. Access to defining factors like the latest medical technologies differs between regions, especially when zeroing in on Africa.
The NHS and Caristo Diagnostics are both working hard to make this life-changing technology available to everyone. Working with marginalised populations and offering healthcare providers the tools and training they need are two ways to address these discrepancies effectively.
RELATED: The Rise of AI as a Guardian in the NFT Ecosystem
As AI transforms how we find cardiac diseases, everyone needs to work together to make sure that everyone can access these new tools that can save lives.
Final thoughts
The use of AI in healthcare is a sign of a bright future. Caristo Diagnostics has created the CaRi-Heart AI platform, which is a groundbreaking piece of technology that can now find heart inflammation and stop heart attacks.
As more studies show that this technology works, the use of AI in healthcare could change the way patients are cared for and cut down on the number of heart attacks that kill people.
