Researchers are developing a t-shirt capable of identifying inherited heart conditions.
Supported by a grant from the British Heart Foundation, the researchers hope the technology could provide earlier access to treatment for patients at risk of sudden death. The British Heart Foundation has awarded over £340,000 to the team, led by Professor Zachary Whinnett at the National Heart and Lung Institute.
Around 340,000 people in the UK have an inherited heart condition that could put them at risk of dying from dangerous heart rhythms. These conditions can lead to breathlessness and fainting during everyday activities – and if more serious, to sudden cardiac death, which claims the lives of 12 young people under 35 in the UK each week.
But diagnosing these conditions in hospital can be difficult, as heart rhythm scans can often appear completely normal, allowing the condition to go undetected.
Professor Whinnett hopes that the wearable t-shirt could make a difference. He said: "One of the challenges of diagnosing these conditions is that irregular heart rhythms may not always occur during routine 10-minute hospital ECGs. We hope our AI-assisted t-shirt will provide a practical and comfortable solution, allowing us to carry out longer-term scanning that could improve diagnosis."
Researchers will train the AI using electrocardiogram (ECG) data from over 1000 individuals – some with inherited heart rhythm conditions and others without - to allow the algorithm to recognise abnormal ECG patterns. They will then look at how effectively the t-shirt can pick up these conditions on 200 patients and volunteers who will wear the vest continuously for up to three months.
The t-shirt will be designed using comfortable material that can be worn underneath clothes as a vest during daily activities, such as sleeping and eating. It will have wires within the fabric to measure electrical signals, allowing patients to be monitored for longer periods of time.
The researchers hope this technology will be available for clinicians to use in roughly five years. While the t-shirt will initially be developed and trialed on adults, if found to be effective, it could in future provide a new way to make heart monitoring more comfortable for children.
Professor Whinnett said: "By harnessing the power of AI, we hope our research can transform doctors' abilities to spot heart conditions and improve the lives of those who are unknowingly living with a genetic heart condition."
Professor James Leiper, Director of Research at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Too many people have been snatched away from their loved ones in an instant by inherited heart conditions. This innovative research will leverage the power of AI to help clinicians unmask these hidden conditions and identify patients at risk of sudden death."
