Deep learning AI may identify atrial fibrillation from a normal rhythm ECG - Times of India

Although early and requiring further research before implementation, the findings could aid doctors investigating unexplained strokes or heart failure, enabling appropriate treatment. Researchers have trained an artificial intelligence model to detect the signature of atrial fibrillation in 10-second electrocardiograms (ECG) taken from patients in normal rhythm. The study, involving almost 181,000 patients and published in The Lancet, is the first to use deep learning to identify patients with potentially undetected atrial fibrillation and had an overall accuracy of 83%. Atrial fibrillation is estimated to affect 2.7–6.1 million people in the United States and is associated with increased risk of stroke, heart failure and mortality. It is difficult to detect on a single ECG because patients' hearts can go in and out of this abnormal rhythm, so atrial fibrillation often goes undiagnosed. Dr Paul Friedman, Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, USA, says, "Applying an AI model to the ECG permits detection of atrial fibrillation even if not present at the time the ECG is recorded.