The McLaren healthcare system recently announced a new cardiovascular screening program powered by artificial intelligence, the first-of-its-kind in Michigan.
The screening allows healthcare providers to easily search CT scans of patients for calcium in the coronary arteries and aortic valve, one sign of potential heart disease that can lead to heart attacks.
Unlike generative AI programs like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, the cardiovascular screening does not generate new information. Instead, it compares a patient's previous CT data to any new scans for changes.
Across the country, this technology has received an FDA certification and is being used at healthcare providers like the Mayo Clinic.
The program is being run in partnership with Bunkerhill Health, a healthcare company helping to implement AI programs into medical practices.
Dr. Marina Maraskine is with McLaren Central Michigan. She said patient protection is a priority in a technology-driven world.
"Everything that we do in the medical field we're thinking about HIPAA and patient privacy, making sure that their medical information is safe," Maraskine said. "A lot of our systems are electronic medical records where our hospital systems each have teams in place to help protect that information."
With heart disease being a leading cause of death across the U.S, Maraskine says the AI program will help bring some of the signs to light before they can become deadly.
"When looking at a CT scan we're looking for calcium, which shows up like bone," Maraskine explained. "It's a really bright spot where the heart tissue shouldn't have any bone in it. So, it's finding those bright spots, counting them, and giving a quantity of calcium within the arteries."
According to Maraskine, this technology is beneficial for doctors not trained in cardiovascular health, such as a primary care doctor, as a large number of patients getting CT scans aren't regularly seeing cardiologists. With the AI, a primary care doctor can have easier access to the information within the scan.
"It's something that they could see, find, and say okay, now we have some calcium in the arteries," Maraskine said. "Is there anything we can do to prevent any heart attack in the future? And sometimes just knowing we may be at risk already helps motivate us to make sure we're doing all the right things with diet, exercise, taking the right medications."
As McLaren launches the program they are screening CT scans from the last 12 months to track changes in upcoming data. Future scans will automatically be added.
