A groundbreaking new artificial intelligence tool known as Rapid-RO could revolutionize the way heart attacks are diagnosed and treated in emergency departments. Developed in the UK, this AI tool has the potential to rapidly rule out heart attacks in patients, saving valuable time and preventing unnecessary hospital stays. During trials at four UK hospitals, Rapid-RO successfully ruled out heart attacks in over a third of patients, surpassing the accuracy of traditional troponin blood tests.
Troponin blood tests are currently used to confirm the diagnosis of a heart attack. These tests measure the levels of a protein called troponin, which increases when there is damage to the heart muscle. However, troponin levels may not be reliably seen until hours later, leading to prolonged hospital stays for further testing and monitoring. Many patients eventually get discharged without needing treatment after a heart attack is ruled out.
Dario Sesia, a PhD student at Imperial College London and supported by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), developed Rapid-RO to identify patients at a very low risk of heart attack. The AI tool was trained using data from over 60,000 patients and then tested on more than 35,000 patients. By combining the initial troponin blood test results with other relevant patient information collected during hospital admission, the algorithm classifies patients into a very low-risk group for heart attack or not.
Rapid-RO proved to be highly effective, successfully ruling out heart attacks in 36% of patients, compared to only 27% ruled out by troponin blood testing alone. Furthermore, the AI tool detected more cases of heart attacks than the troponin tests. Troponin tests missed four times as many heart attacks compared to Rapid-RO. The researchers also noted that the tool’s accuracy was consistent across different ethnicities, genders, and whether patients had a concurrent Covid-19 infection.
Dr. Amit Kaura, a postgraduate clinical research fellow in cardiology from Imperial College London, emphasized the benefits of Rapid-RO, saying, “Our study shows how artificial intelligence can assist doctors in making more timely decisions about patient care, preventing unnecessary hospital stays, all while maintaining patient safety.”
The next steps for the researchers involve turning Rapid-RO into a user-friendly app that doctors can utilize. This app has the potential to further accelerate clinical decisions and improve patient treatment and care. Professor James Leiper, associate medical director at the BHF, expressed excitement about the future possibilities, stating, “We look forward to more research to understand how Rapid-RO could, in the future, be used to accelerate clinical decisions, improving patient treatment and care.”
The development of Rapid-RO and its potential applications in cardiac care represent a significant advancement in using AI to improve healthcare outcomes. By efficiently identifying patients who are safe to be discharged and ruling out heart attacks, this technology has the capacity to optimize healthcare resources and redirect them to where they can have the greatest impact. As AI continues to evolve and integrate into healthcare settings, the potential for more accurate and timely diagnoses becomes increasingly promising.
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