LONDON 

Revolutionary AI-driven 3D heart scans cut the need for invasive tests and have already saved millions of pounds, Britain's National Health Service (NHS) said Tuesday.

"Now rolled out across 56 NHS hospitals in England, the clever tech enables doctors to diagnose and treat patients with suspected heart disease much faster by turning a CT scan of their heart into a personalized 3D image which is then analyzed using AI," the NHS said in a statement.

The tool is helping give tens of thousands of patients at risk of potentially life-threatening coronary heart disease a faster and more accurate diagnosis, while also freeing up capacity in the country's health system, NHS noted, citing a new analysis.

One of the patients who has benefitted from the technology said that she wasn’t a classic case of coronary heart disease but this enabled the cause of symptoms to be quickly identified, which was potentially lifesaving.

According to the new study regarding the technology’s use, published in Nature Medicine, it reduced the number of patients needing invasive angiogram tests by a sixth (16%) in cases where it was later found no further treatment was required – and by 7% overall.

"The number of second heart tests patients needed within a two-year period has also been cut by 12%," added the statement.

New NHS data also shows that more than 24,000 patients so far have benefitted since the technology was rolled out on the NHS in 2021.

It further noted that a total of 6,898 patients had access to the AI-driven analysis – called Heartflow – in 2024 alone.

Vin Diwakar, national director of transformation at NHS England, said that the new technology uses specialist analysis of the CT (computed tomography) scan of the heart to create a personalized 3D model of a patient’s coronary arteries and assess the extent and location of blockages, which is interpreted by a cardiologist.

"These results show that this technology reduces the need for tests so that patients only undergo necessary treatments, demonstrating how AI technology can both improve care as well as increase efficiency in the NHS," said Timothy Fairbairn, lead clinician on the study, who is also a consultant cardiologist at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital.