An AI system that can tell up to 10 years ahead of time which people will have heart attacks could soon be used all over Britain.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said this new, amazing technology could save thousands of lives annually.
(Photo: Unsplash/ Robina Weermeijer )
How the AI System Works
Scientists at Oxford University created AI technology that improves CT scan pictures to show signs of heart disease that couldn't be seen before. It looks at the features of coronary plaques and changes in the fat around swollen vessels, which tells us essential things about the health of heart arteries. With this method, doctors can accurately describe how likely a patient will have a fatal heart event in the next ten years.
Professor Charalambos Antoniades, in charge of the Oxford Risk Factors and Non-Invasive Imaging (Orfan) study, talked about how this technology can change everything. Most of the time, regular CT scans miss signs of artery inflammation, which can cause heart attacks in people who look healthy. The AI system can find these secret risks, which lets early treatment and prevention begin.
Over 40,000 people in the UK were checked with the AI tool, and those with high inflammation in their coronary arteries had a much higher risk of heart problems. This risk estimate helps doctors make treatment plans that might include high doses of statins or anti-inflammatory drugs to keep people from having heart attacks. Real-world tests showed that the method worked well; it made treatment better for up to 45% of patients.
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Effects that Might Happen and its Transformative Utilization
If used all over the UK, the AI system could drastically reduce the number of heart attacks. About 350,000 people in the UK get heart CT scans yearly.
Patients are often comforted and sent home even though risks cannot be seen. AI technology aims to change this by providing correct risk assessments that help make better treatment plans.
The British Heart Foundation paid for the study, and the results were shown at the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association in Philadelphia. Researchers found that people who had high amounts of inflammation but no significant narrowing of the arteries were over ten times more likely to die from heart disease. The AI tool's predictions caused many people to have their treatment plans changed, showing that it could save lives.
The technology is both cost-effective and efficient. The potential to reduce heart attacks by over 20% and fatalities and strokes by 8% among the individuals included in the study is present for the implementation of the AI tool throughout the NHS. It has been reported that NHS England has provided funding for a pilot program to implement the technology in five hospitals to extend its use throughout the nation and subsequently extend its use nationwide.
Professor Antoniades and his team are creating artificial intelligence systems capable of predicting the occurrence of strokes and other medical conditions, such as diabetes. The development of this heart attack prediction tool is merely the beginning of the healthcare revolution that AI has the potential to bring about. The NHS is preparing to implement AI technology, and it is becoming increasingly evident that it has the potential to save lives.
Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, discussed how AI can help find people at high risk and help doctors make better treatment decisions. Many people die needlessly from heart attacks every year, so using AI to its fullest is essential for better patient outcomes and saving lives. The NHS hopes this technology will soon be standard, stopping thousands of deaths that could have been avoided yearly.
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