NHS England has published data on the use of the AI-driven, 3D heart scan technology, Heartflow, demonstrating its impact across 56 different NHS hospitals in England when diagnosing and supporting patients with suspected heart disease.
According to a recent study, over 24,300 patients have benefited from the use of this technology since it was introduced in 2021, with Nature Magazine reporting that it has led to a reduction of patients needing invasive angiogram tests by 16 percent “in cases where it was later found no further treatment was required” and 7 percent overall. This has helped with minimising the use of unnecessary and invasive procedures, “saving the NHS an estimated £9.5m – equivalent to around £390 per patient”.
Heartflow works by turning a CT scan of a patient’s heart into a “personalised 3D image which is then analysed using AI”, with a total of 6,898 patients having access to these insights in the past year. It is being used across the NHS for those who are at risk of life-threatening coronary heart disease to provide a “faster and more accurate diagnosis, while also freeing up capacity in the NHS”.
National director of transformation at NHS England, Dr Vin Diwakar, commented on the use of this tool, stating: “It is fantastic to see that these revolutionary AI-driven 3D heart scans, supported by NHS England, are transforming cardiac care by significantly reducing the need for invasive tests, speeding up diagnoses, conserving NHS resources, and enabling clinicians to advise patients on the best treatment for their condition.”
Evaluating AI in healthcare: the wider trend
The government recently published a series of human-centred frameworks alongside a practical toolkit for the safe implementation of generative AI. The frameworks feature nine tips that are “critical to success”, with a focus on leaders being asked to “lead by example” by using tools in their own work to foster a culture of innovation and continuous learning within their organisation.
Last month, Health Innovation Hub Ireland announced a new national initiative called HIHI.AI Call 2025, said to support the “development and testing of AI solutions that can make a real impact in Ireland’s healthcare system”. As part of the initiative, they’ve been looking for input from companies, startups, researchers, clinicians and industry leaders who are already focused on developing AI-powered healthcare solutions.
AI research and deployment company, OpenAI has launched a new benchmark for evaluating the capabilities of health AI systems, which was built in partnership with 262 physicians practicing across 60 countries. HealthBench is designed to be user-friendly, covering a wide range of scenarios to help researchers measure the benefits of AI systems across the health sector and beyond.
