AI Can Help Detect Heart Failure Risk Early On, New Study Finds

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to substantially improve healthcare diagnostics and treatments for various illnesses. A new study shows that AI tech can help medical practitioners detect heart failure risks early on.

Researchers at the University of Dundee's School of Medicine studied a final cohort of 578 people to determine how AI could benefit people at risk of heart failure. The study, published in the journal ESC Heart Failure, was made possible by patients who voluntarily donated their data to the Scottish Health Research Register and Biobank (SHARE).

Heart and circulatory disorders account for one in three deaths worldwide each year. The researchers in the study sought to determine AI's "real-world benefits" for those at risk.

They used AI to analyze population-based electronic health records and echocardiography heart scans to detect patients with heart failure. The photos were then examined using AI deep learning to find any irregularities that would put a patient at risk.

According to Professor Chim Lang, their research represents an advancement in the utilization of deep learning to interpret echocardiographic images automatically, and this can allow them to streamline the identification of patients with heart failure at scale within electronic health record datasets.

He noted that AI software helped enhance echocardiography heart scans to provide more measurements or parameters of heart structure and function that can be used to diagnose heart failure. He added that the typical heart scans from the electronic health records did not usually report these measurements.

AI Against Heart Conditions

This is not the first time AI has been used to determine and treat heart-related conditions. Florida-based AdventHealth Zephyrhills is reportedly using a new AI-powered cardiac procedure. The new procedure, CathWorks, utilizes AI to detect artery blockages that cause heart disease and help prevent heart attacks.

Debbie Moore, a nurse, has worked in AdventHealth Zypherhills' Cath Lab for almost 30 years. During that time, she has witnessed the advancement of methods and tools for diagnosing and treating cardiac issues.

Moore is currently a member of the first Advent team in Florida that uses an AI-powered procedure. The AI-powered tool measures coronary artery blockages that can result in heart attacks and heart disease.

Doctors can use the application to decide if a patient requires a stent by seeing the percentage of blocked arteries. Doctors reportedly deal with big stakes and millimeters when it comes to obstructions.

Cardiologist Dr. Ghazanfar Khadim said the approach removes the need for invasive wires and blood thinners by replacing the standard invasive process used to measure blockages.

Medical Experts on AI

The procedure eases patients' lives and significantly reduces their risk while giving cardiologists access to corroborating data. The team has executed roughly thirty processes after a month of the program and claimed that patients have already benefited from it.

Although Khadim acknowledged that using AI is advantageous, he does not rely exclusively on the technology. Doctors must still make the appropriate decision by applying their knowledge and experience.