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31 January 2017

AI Heartbeats

Computers have learned to predict survival in patients with a heart condition more accurately than is possible today. In the future, this may help doctors to identify patients at greatest risk of death earlier and treat them more intensively. The artificial intelligence software was developed using historic data from over 250 patients with pulmonary hypertension, which can lead to heart failure. The software analyses moving images of a patient’s heart captured during an MRI scan. It then uses image processing to build a 'virtual 3D heart', replicating the way that over 30,000 points contract during each beat. By linking its models with the patient data, it learned which attributes of a heart, its shape and structure, put an individual at a given risk of heart failure. Declan O’Regan, who led the research at the MRC LMS, says, “The computer is up to 80% accurate at predicting survival at one year.”

Read more about this research here.

Written by Deborah Oakley

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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