Stamford Health's Heart & Vascular Institute has announced it will be the first in Connecticut to offer a new, AI-powered cardiovascular screening algorithm to enhance cardiovascular care for its patients. The tool, provided by Bunkerhill Health, uses a machine learning algorithm, to calculate a total coronary artery calcium (CAC) or Agatston score, significantly improving the early detection and management of cardiovascular disease by identifying the presence of coronary calcium, an indicator of future risk of coronary artery disease in a pre-defined patient population.

Traditionally, this type of screening would occur with a special order from a physician. Now, the automated algorithm runs in the background of all non-gated chest CT scans, such as those used in lung cancer screenings, and patients automatically receive a CAC score during any non-contrast chest CT scan. When a patient with elevated CAC is identified, their primary care provider (PCP) or cardiologist is promptly notified. The notification includes the patient's CAC score and MESA risk percentile, enabling timely and personalized follow-up care. Treatment can include simple lifestyle adjustments such a dietary or exercise recommendations, medication or further cardiac testing.

"We are excited to integrate this groundbreaking technology into our cardiovascular screening process," said Ronald Lee, MD, chair of Stamford Health's department of radiology. "We are focused on providing the most cutting-edge, sophisticated care to our patients."

"This tool enhances our ability to detect early signs of cardiovascular disease and ensures that patients receive the follow-up care they need to prevent serious health outcomes," added David Hsi, MD, chief of cardiology, and co-director of Stamford Health's Heart & Vascular Institute.

Bunkerhill Health's research consortium, which is comprised of 25 academic medical centers and growing (Stanford, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, etc.), built and validated this FDA cleared incidental CAC algorithm and is currently developing an additional 30+ AI algorithms in the cardiovascular, oncology, and endocrinology spaces.

Bunkerhill Health coordinates and accelerates the algorithm development process, manages FDA submission, and distributes these algorithms for clinical use. Bunkerhill algorithms are currently deployed in live clinical use at over 150 sites of care in the United States.