Signs of a heart attack predicted with AI technology

Developed by a team at Cedars-Sinai, the novel AI technology can accurately forecast early signs of a heart attack, predicting which patients will experience a heart attack in five years based on the level and composition of plaque in arteries that supply the heart with blood. The findings of the team's research, which was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, are published in The Lancet Digital Health. When plaque builds up, it can result in a narrowing of the arteries, making it more challenging for blood to be transported to the heart, which increases the chances of a heart attack. Traditionally, health professionals employ a medical test called coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) to capture 3D images of the heart and arteries, which gives the doctors an estimate of how much a patient's arteries have narrowed. However, until now, there has not been an efficient, automated, and rapid method for measuring the plaque shown in the CTA images.