Rutgers Launches Development Collaboration for AI-Based ECG Algorithms

Rutgers University and medical technology company HeartSciences announced a multi-year collaboration agreement to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-based electrocardiogram (ECG) algorithms and expand the clinical value of an ECG for low-cost detection of heart disease.

According to the press release, the collaboration aims to make ECG a more valuable screening tool through the use of AI. These efforts will leverage Rutgers’ extensive clinical data and operate out of the new Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson, Center for Innovation.

“We look forward to strengthening our existing relationship with HeartSciences for innovating in the important area of leveraging AI to expand the clinical capabilities of an ECG,” said Partho P. Sengupta, MD, Rutgers’ principal investigator under the collaboration, and professor and the chief of Division of Cardiology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, in the press release. “AI is playing an important role in developing and advancing innovations in cardiology and has demonstrated significant potential for enhancing electrocardiography to improve heart disease detection, while reducing overall healthcare costs.”

The collaboration follows HeartSciences’ recent participation at the Inauguration Ceremony of the Center for Innovation at the Rutgers and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in September. The partnership builds on past collaborative efforts between the two organizations to accelerate innovation in cardiology. The press release notes that the partnership is expected to accelerate HeartSciences' product development pipeline.

“We are excited and honored to enter a collaboration with Dr. Sengupta and Rutgers University. Dr. Sengupta is a globally respected figure in the field of cardiology, including the application of technology to accelerate innovation in the field of cardiology,” said Andrew Simpson, CEO of HeartSciences, in the press release.

This collaboration is the latest to leverage AI for healthcare IT development and innovation.

Last week, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill), through the Eshelman Institute for Innovation, launched a collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support the creation of cloud-driven digital health startups.

Under the collaboration, UNC-Chapel Hill will leverage cloud technology to translate its digital health research expertise into commercialized solutions through startups focusing on enhancing patient and provider experience, advancing health and wellness, and improving healthcare access.

These solutions are set to help improve healthcare access in five key areas: enterprise systems and support, clinician services and support, patient-facing wellness and support, patient-facing diagnostics and monitoring, and patient-facing therapeutic interventions.

The Institute for Augmented Intelligence in Medicine (I.AIM) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is also set to contribute to healthcare IT innovation through its newly established Center for Collaborative AI in Healthcare, which aims to advance AI science, engineering, and translation across healthcare specialties and bolster precision medicine.

The new center will serve as a hub for research, training, and collaboration to help clinicians, hospital administrators, and researchers apply AI to their work and clinical practice.