NHS Introduces A New AI-Based Technology That Can Detect Heart Disease At Record Speed And With 40 Percent Higher Accuracy

The NHS is now employing a cutting-edge AI program that can diagnose heart illness in just 20 SECONDS.

• Experts claim that the computer tool replicates human abilities but with more precision.
• When the patient is in the scanner, it analyses cardiac MRI images in about 20 seconds.
• This is far faster than a human doctor would take, which may take up to 13 minutes.
• It can also identify changes in the heart’s anatomy with a 40 percent higher accuracy.

While the patient is in the scanner, the computer tool, which resembles human ability but with more precision and speed, can analyze cardiac MRI data in 20 seconds.

According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which has supported research into the technology, this is significantly faster than a doctor physically examining the pictures following an MRI scan, which may take up to 13 minutes. The technology identifies heart structure and function changes with 40% greater accuracy and retrieves 40% more information than a human can.

According to the new research, the approach was more accurate at analyzing MRIs than the work of three specialists.

Around 120,000 cardiac MRI scans are conducted in the UK each year, and experts hope the new technology will free up doctors’ time to see more patients, reducing the NHS treatment backlog.

The new AI is presently being utilized on more than 140 patients every week at the Barts Health NHS Trust, University College London Hospital (UCLH), and Royal Free Hospital.

Later this year, the deployment will be expanded to another 40 places in the UK and worldwide.

According to Dr. Rhodri Davies, who led the research, their new AI interprets complicated heart scans in record time, examining the anatomy and function of a patient’s heart with greater precision than ever before.

The technology’s attractiveness is that it eliminates the need for a doctor to spend numerous hours manually analyzing images. The researchers are constantly pushing the technology to improve it to be used by every patient with any type of cardiac ailment. After this initial distribution on the NHS, researchers will gather data and train and develop the AI so that it may be used by more cardiac patients in the UK and throughout the world,’ says the study.

‘This is a tremendous development for clinicians and patients,’ said Dr. Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the BHF and consultant cardiologist. ‘It’s revolutionizing the way we can analyze a person’s cardiac MRI pictures to detect if they have heart disease at a faster rate.’

Hundreds of thousands of individuals are waiting for essential cardiac exams, treatment, and care due to the epidemic. Regardless of the delay in cardiac therapy, patients who stay on waiting lists risk irreversible damage and death. That’s why it’s encouraging to see advances like these, which, when combined, might help speed up heart diagnosis and reduce strain, allowing us to provide the best possible treatment to more NHS heart patients far sooner in the future.

According to the BHF, the technology will help detect and treat a wide range of cardiac problems. The team intends to improve the AI to measure heart valve dysfunction and congenital heart problems, which occur before a baby is born and grows in the womb.

Heart attack, aortic stenosis (narrowing of the heart valve), high blood pressure, dilated cardiomyopathy (weakening of the heart muscle), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (thickening of the left ventricle), Fabry disease, and amyloidosis of the heart (deposits of an aberrant protein called amyloid in the heart tissue) were all used to develop the AI (a rare inherited fat metabolism disorder that affects the heart).

According to research published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, the approach was studied using data from 1,923 cardiac MRI images.

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS medical director, said: ‘The NHS is always ready to use cutting-edge technologies to deliver better treatment for individuals with heart disease.’

The health service will continue to adapt, meet the needs of more patients, and encourage more entrepreneurs to come forward with ideas that can make a difference and alter people’s lives by funding the most promising new technologies.

References:

Sources:

• https://nypost.com/2022/03/11/new-ai-tool-can-spot-heart-disease-nearly-40-times-faster-than-doctors/
• https://www.the-sun.com/health/4867899/heart-disease-ai-tool/

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