According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is “the leading cause of death in the United States,” making the ability to predict a person’s likelihood of a future heart attack a medical priority.
Doctors are using artificial intelligence to predict whether a patient could develop heart disease.
Doctors say a traditional stress test can tell patients if there are blockages at the time the test was taken.
It’s a technology Bob Freiburger told WINK he was eager to try after a family tragedy, saying, “I have a sister that passed away of heart disease in her 40s."
According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is “the leading cause of death in the United States,” making the ability to predict a person’s likelihood of a future heart attack a medical priority.
Cardiologist Dr. Richard Chazal explains how his practice is using AI to show where there are blockages and whether they could cause a myocardial infarction down the line.
"The artificial intelligence program that we're utilizing, looks at plaque and it breaks it down into the types of plaque because some types of plaque are more dangerous than others. And it also measures that down to the cubic millimeter,” he told WINK. “So when we're using this AI program, we're able to say to a person, here's exactly how much plaque you have."
While a traditional stress test can tell patients if there are blockages at the time the test was taken, putting the images from a CT scan into the computer for AI analysis lets patients and doctors know where plaque is accumulating and its probability to lead to a future heart attack.
"We've identified a number of people that were at high risk for developing a heart attack in the not too distant future ... And in virtually every case, they were unaware of this,” Dr. Chazal said.
In the United States, someone has a heart attack every 40 seconds, according to the CDC.
As for Bob, the AI program gave him good news. He’s at a low risk for heart disease, but he’s aware that knowledge is key.
"Knowing that that could be me if I didn't know the condition of my heart, that gave me tremendous level of comfort,” Freiburger added.
