The EuroHeartPath project has been launched, with a €27 million budget spanning five years for 18 pioneering pathfinder studies focusing on AI and machine learning, digital health integration, point-of-care diagnostics, and advanced robotic technologies.
Setting out to transform cardiovascular care by looking to map and optimise care pathways in 15 EU countries, the project reportedly brings together 35 partners from academia, industry and health, to advance cross-border learning and collaboration.
Professor Pim van der Harst, coördinator and head of cardiology at UMC Utrecht, commented that EuroHeartPath represents a “unique chance” to redesign cardiovascular care across Europe, noting: “This project leverages data, technology, and international collaboration to create a dynamic, learning healthcare system that can significantly enhance care quality, patient outcomes, and overall health system resilience.”
Examples of research being supported through the project include the PACEVALUE pathfinder, aiming to address gaps in the management of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) for arrhythmias and heart failure; and the EXPLAIN pathfinder that uses AI to enhance the interpretation of ECGs.
The European Society of Cardiology will support several work packages, offering “a decade of experience of collecting data in multinational environment with diverse healthcare systems and practices”, and incorporating the GRASP programme – a longitudinal study of 6,000 patients across 30 sites to improve understandings of cardiomyopathies and myocarditis.
Innovation in cardiovascular care
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust has shared insight into an electrocardiographic imaging vest developed by their researchers alongside a research team from University College London, which sees electrical data from 256 sensors combined with MRI images to generate 3D digital models of the heart and its electrical activity.
A study by teams at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare, funded by the British Heart Foundation, has developed an artificial intelligence-enhanced electrocardiography model with the potential to identify female patients “who could benefit from enhanced risk factor modification or surveillance” in relation to elevated cardiovascular risk.
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.
