Scientists at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can predict a person’s risk of heart failure up to five years before symptoms appear.
The breakthrough, published in the journal npj Digital Medicine, could help doctors identify high-risk patients much earlier, allowing treatment to begin before serious damage is done.
Heart failure affects around 64 million people worldwide and is one of the leading causes of illness and hospital admissions, particularly in older adults.
The AI model analyses data from a routine 24-hour heart monitor (Holter ECG) and can detect tiny warning signs that are invisible to the human eye.
Professor Joachim Behar, who led the research at the Technion’s Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, said: “By identifying people at risk years before heart failure develops, we have an opportunity to intervene earlier, improve patients’ quality of life and potentially save lives.”
The model was developed using around 70,000 routine heart-monitoring tests from Leumit Health Services and was created in collaboration with researchers and clinicians from Rambam Health Care Campus, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and other leading Israeli medical institutions.
The researchers hope the technology could eventually become part of routine healthcare, helping prevent heart failure before it starts.