A pilot project is underway here and in other areas across the country.
Oxford’s University Hospital’s NHS Trust is one of five hospital trusts where Ai is being used to help detect the risk of having a heart attack.
The CaRi-Heart procedure, developed by a Caristo Diagnostics based in Oxford, helps in uncovering hidden inflammation through a CT scan.
AI can detect changes regular CT scans can’t pick up on. The build up of things like plaque in heart valves is one of the things the traditional scans at a cheste pain clinic can’t pick up on. The CaRi-Heart scan can be added on to their scan appointment.
It’s hoped the pilot project also running at Milton Keynes, Leicester, Liverpool and Wolverhampton Trusts could lead to the technology being used more widely in the NHS in just the next few months.
NHS England is sponsoring the trial at the five trusts.
Frank Cheng is CEO of Caristo Diagnostics who are behind the technology:
“About 350,000 people in a given year in the UK receive a cardiac scan. With this adding to the analysis which is carried out, we’ll soon hopefully be able to roll this out and find more people who are most at risk through having coronary inflammation.”
Frank believes the additional analysis of these scans will allow more people to realise they have inflammation in their arteries and get the care they need.
Heart inflammation is a strong predictor of future issues like heart attacks.