New AI tool can detect hidden heart attack risks.
A team of experts from Caristo Daignostics, an Oxford University spinout company, has created an AI tech that has the feature to identify individuals at risk of a heart attack within the next decade.
The model has been described as “game changing” by scientists.
It detects heart inflammation that can’t be seen on CT scans, which use a combination of X-rays and computer technology.
The technology is also being adapted to prevent diabetes and strokes.
Also read: How to stop a heart attack?
Professor Keith Channon from the University of Oxford said: “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].”
In the pilot, patients with chest pain referred for a routine CT scan have their scans analysed by Caristo Diagnostics’ CaRi-Heart AI platform.
An algorithm that detects coronary inflammation and plaque is then checked by trained operators.
Study has associated increased inflammation to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and fatal heart attacks.
According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), approximately 7.6 million people in the UK live with heart disease, costing the NHS in England £7.4bn annually.
About 350,000 cardiac CT scans are performed each year in the UK.
The Orfan study (Oxford Risk Factors and Non-invasive Imaging), involving 40,000 patients and published in the Lancet, revealed that 80% of people were sent back to primary care without a defined prevention or treatment plan.
Researchers found that patients with inflammation in their coronary arteries had a 20 to 30 times higher risk of dying from a cardiac event over the next 10 years.
Using this AI technology, 45% of these patients were prescribed medication or encouraged to make lifestyle changes to avoid future heart attacks.
