New AI tool 'better than the naked eye' at spotting heart attack signs

For Illawarra patients, clinicians say that means earlier detection of heart disease and more targeted treatment, especially for those who have limited symptoms.

The Cardiac Centre this week became the first private clinic to sign up to use artificial intelligence software which can detect the presence of a dangerous type of soft plaque in the arteries better than the naked eye.

Developed by Perth-based company Artrya, the software can quickly read a CT scan of the heart and produce a report showing where there are blockages, calcification and crucially, "vulnerable plaque" - which is the leading cause of heart attacks.

The Cardiac Centre's Director of Imaging Associate Professor Barry Ellison said the use of AI in technology was become more common, and was designed to complement what doctors do in diagnosing and treating patients.

"I'd rather embrace technology than fight technology - because it's going to happen, end of story - and I think our patients will really benefit," he said.

"I'm a strong proponent of innovation and I think it's huge that we're the first to be taking up this technology."

Prof Ellison said there was no extra cost to patients for the AI tool, which uses existing CT coronary angiograms already being done at the Rawson Street clinic.

Likewise, cardiologist Dr Jorge Moragues said there would no change to the experience of patients in terms of being diagnosed, as they would still have the same tests that would then be fed into the AI software.

"But being able to predict things that the bare eye cannot makes a big difference for them in terms of the outcomes," Dr Moragues said.

"Instead of just saying, you've got blockages or you don't have blockages, this goes much further in saying that even though you don't have actually blockages, you are at high risk. This is an in-depth and thorough analysis, with a much better predicting capacity so we can give treatment at an early stage."

"Symptoms are not a good predictor of heart attacks - most people who have a heart attack the day probably will be perfectly fine and then the next day, chest pain and, boom, heart attack.

"So we need better tools to identify which people are at risk of developing a heart attack, and this is what these technologies do."

"The way I like to frame it to patients is like being able to have a peek at the cards before they're dealt."

Artrya co-founder John Konstantopoulos said he started his company to move away from "symptom-based" assessment of coronary artery disease, as for many people having symptoms was too late.

"For 50 per cent of men and 64 per cent of women, the first symptom of heart disease is death," he said.

"But coronary artery disease is very much a progressive inflammatory disease, it starts off with a fat build up on the arteries and that progresses towards [serious disease].

"There's a type of plaque - a very soft plaque - that causes the inflammation and potentially could cause a heart attack, so our goal was when we built the software was not only to look at the the symptoms that are causing patients to have chest pain, but focus on a risk-based approach, where you're providing doctors with a full view of the patient's risks so that they can make a better decision on how to treat them.

"The AI tool basically drives down every artery and uses sensors to find where the different types of disease are like calcification, hardening or narrowing of the arteries... and then provides that as an overview back to the doctor and provides the severity for each patient."

Director of Cardiology Dr Astin Lee, who opened the Cardiac Clinic in 2022 with the vision of bringing high quality heart treatment to the region, said the AI software would allow doctors at the centre to more accurately diagnose disease.

"It is wonderful for us to be able to bring this cutting edge technology to the world," he said.

"The use of AI in medicine is to help us do things more efficiently and more accurately, but it doesn't take away the human element to the treatment of patients."