In a groundbreaking move, a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) system, Sense, has been developed to minimise the time required for a cardiac scan analysis and enable expedited diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD).
Sense, an AI-centric system developed by the CVS.AI lab at the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) in partnership with A*Star.
It will be accessible at three public hospitals here as part of a year-long trial.
The Singapore Heart Lesion Analyser (Sense) is slated to be trialled at the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS), the National University Hospital and Tan Tock Seng Hospital in the third quarter of 2025.
A total of 300 participants will be involved in the trial.
Sense will use state-of-the-art computational capabilities and algorithms to interpret cardiac imaging scans and analyse the risk of CAD within just 10 minutes.
However, this process usually requires two to four hours of analysis by radiographers and cardiologists.
Assistant Professor Lohendran Baskaran, senior consultant with the NHCS cardiology department, stated: “Sometimes it can take longer because doctors are busy doing other things in between all these scans, such as seeing patients in the clinic.”
How will Sense work?
Sense will be an automated analyser, which will assess CT scans to establish the amount of calcium deposits and fat plaques in the coronary artery, causing severe cardiac complications such as atherosclerosis, and more.
Accuracy
Sense has shown up to 85% to 99% precision in controlled settings to detect heart disease.
A year-long trial across three institutions aims to analyse its performance in real-world conditions.
It is pertinent to mention that all AI-generated results must still be confirmed by a doctor, ensuring the system’s support.
This research supports improved comprehension and prediction of CAD, which caused 8,311 deaths in Singapore in 2023, accounting for about 30% of the mortality rate.
