AI reads an ECG in two seconds and detects hidden heart conditions

ArticleAna-Maria StanciucNews

Researchers at Imperial College London have developed an AI system that analyses standard ECGs in under two seconds to detect heart failure and valve disease. These structural signals cannot be reliably extracted by clinicians from regular traces. The system is primarily intended for triage to prioritise patients waiting for ultrasound scans.

Key points

  1. Identified up to 81% of heart failure and up to 90% of valve disease cases from standard ECG traces
  2. Evaluated in a trial of 67,000 US patients and presented at the European Society of Cardiology congress
  3. Trained on 1.6 million Brazilian ECGs linked to patient outcomes, alongside millions of US records
  4. Aimed at triaging patients to reduce months-long waiting lists for specialist echocardiograms
  5. Commercialisation underway via spinout Cardiovolt.ai, though formal regulatory clearance as a medical device is still required

Why it matters

While ECGs are cheap and ubiquitously available, specialised echocardiograms require trained sonographers and often involve lengthy waiting periods. Deploying AI models onto existing ECG workflows allows healthcare providers to fast-track high-risk individuals without requiring substantial upfront capital investment in new diagnostic hardware.

Analysis

The project illustrates how neural networks can extract non-obvious markers from legacy diagnostic tests that were never designed for those specific pathologies. However, moving from an academic presentation to hospital deployment requires medical device approval. Further clinical studies will also be needed to prove whether algorithmic triage directly translates into earlier interventions and measurably improved patient outcomes in real-world practice.

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Summary generated by AI (Gemini 3.8 Flash, 27 September 2026). It may contain errors – the original source is authoritative.

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