“AI is transforming the way doctors deliver cost-effective, high-quality diagnostic and treatment services to their patients.”

That summary of the impact of AI comes from Charles A. Taylor, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of HeartFlow, a medical tech firm focused on changing the way cardiovascular disease is diagnosed and treated. 

In a recent interview, Taylor described how the company is using deep learning to build 3-D models of patients’ hearts to provide doctors with a safer and more effective way of diagnosing cardiovascular disease.

According to Taylor, HeartFlow has pioneered technology to help clinicians diagnose coronary heart disease (CHD). 

“Using data from a standard cardiac CTA scan,” he explained, “the HeartFlow Analysis first uses deep learning in order to create a personalized, digital 3D model of the patient’s coronary arteries.  HeartFlow then applies computational fluid dynamics and advanced algorithms to the model to assess the impact of blockages on blood flow. This analysis can help clinicians diagnose CHD, develop the optimal treatment for each patient and reduce the need for additional testing.”

In his view, seeing as how CHD is the leading cause of death worldwide, the potential of such technology is huge.

Similarly, however, Taylor points to what he believes AI will bring across the healthcare sector.

“The potential for AI in healthcare is tremendous,” he noted, “as AI increasingly becomes integrated into the healthcare ecosystem. AI is transforming the way doctors deliver cost-effective, high-quality diagnostic and treatment services to their patients. For example, the technology can identify patterns and anomalies in diagnostic data from medical scans at a speed and volume that humans are simply unable to replicate.”

Moreover, he argued, it’s important to understand that “the processing power of AI has applications far beyond providing simple diagnoses. It can be used to help health professionals identify the severity of what is wrong with the patient and provide insight as to why they are experiencing certain symptoms. This additional information helps doctors decide on the most effective treatment.”

That said, Taylor cautioned that the “bright future” AI “offers cannot be reached if the necessary infrastructure is not in place to support its development.  The implementation of AI technology serves to enhance the capability and efficiency of trained medical staff, not replace them. Taking the HeartFlow Analysis as an example, AI technology can quickly produce an accurate 3D model of the patient’s arteries from a CT scan, but it still requires a doctor to interpret the significance of the disease in the model, integrate it with other patient data, and subsequently decide on the best course of treatment.”

In short, “AI and the analysis it provides is invaluable, and it helps physicians most effectively use their time and provide improved diagnoses. However, human intervention will always remain at the centre of patient care.”