Many people with heart failure do not realise they have the condition until it has already caused significant damage.
Early symptoms such as tiredness, breathlessness, or reduced exercise ability are often mistaken for normal ageing or other illnesses.
Finding better ways to identify heart disease earlier has become one of the biggest goals in modern medicine.
Researchers at Wake Forest University believe artificial intelligence may provide part of the answer. In research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, they showed that AI can discover signs of several important heart problems using information from an ordinary ECG, one of the most common medical tests in the world.
An ECG records the electrical signals produced by each heartbeat. Doctors have used it for more than a century to detect rhythm problems and signs of heart damage. However, AI can examine tiny patterns that are too complex for the human eye to recognise, allowing the same test to reveal much more information.
The research team created two AI programs. One worked with the traditional 12-lead ECG performed in hospitals, while the other required only a single lead. This raises the possibility that future smart watches or portable devices could screen people outside hospitals.
The scientists analysed almost 1.08 million ECG recordings from more than 165,000 patients before testing the system in another large group of children. The AI accurately recognised different forms of left ventricular dysfunction and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, conditions that usually require more advanced imaging tests to diagnose.
The strongest performance was seen when detecting severely reduced pumping ability, but the system also performed well for other forms of heart failure. Importantly, even the simpler single-lead version achieved useful accuracy, making low-cost screening a realistic future goal.
The researchers discovered something else that surprised them. Computer models based only on routine patient information did not perform consistently, while combining those details with the AI analysis of ECGs offered almost no improvement. This suggests that the ECG alone contains rich hidden information that AI can successfully interpret.
If introduced into healthcare, this technology could help doctors identify high-risk patients much earlier. People with abnormal AI results could then receive echocardiograms or specialist care before symptoms become severe. Earlier treatment often means better long-term outcomes and fewer emergency hospital visits.
Although the results are promising, AI is not ready to replace doctors or established heart tests. The technology must still be tested in different healthcare systems and populations to ensure it performs reliably in everyday practice. Ethical issues, patient privacy, and careful medical oversight will also remain important.
Overall, this study demonstrates how artificial intelligence may transform a simple ECG into a powerful screening tool for heart disease.
If future research confirms these findings, millions of people could benefit from faster diagnosis using equipment that is already widely available. The study represents an exciting advance, but careful clinical testing will determine how quickly this technology becomes part of routine medical care.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about top foods to love for a stronger heart, and why oranges may help fight obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
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Source: Wake Forest University.
