NHS Rolls Out 3D Imaging Technology for Heart Disease Diagnosis

NHS England recently announced that it is rolling out its 3D imaging technology, HeartFlow, to diagnose and treat nearly 1,000 patients with suspected heart disease.

HeartFlow, part of NHS Long Term Plan, turns a regular CT scan of the heart into a 3D image. This allows doctors to diagnose life-threatening coronary heart disease in just 20 minutes. 

Before HeartFlow, patients would have to go in hospital for an invasive angiogram. But now, patients will be seen, diagnosed, and treated about five times quicker, offering convenient care and helping NHS staff to stay focused after disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The NHS Long Term Plan committed to cutting strokes, heart attacks and other major killers as well as ensuring patients would benefit from cutting edge therapies and techniques and HeartFlow is just the latest example of that,” Stephen Powis, NHS medical director said in the announcement. 

“By rapidly improving the rate we diagnose and treat those with a heart condition we will save thousands of lives and ensure as well as delivering the most successful vaccination programme in health service history, the NHS is able to deliver routine services even quicker than before the pandemic,” Powis continued.

More people in England will have access to the potentially life-saving technology than anywhere else in Europe, the US, or Japan, an NHS spokesperson explained. 

Nearly 100,000 individuals are eligible to use HeartFlow over the next three years and more than 35,000 individuals are set to benefit year-over-year. This will impact hospitals and improve diagnosis and treatment for patients.

“For every five patients who have a cardiac CT and a HeartFlow Analysis, four patients go home knowing they don’t need anything else,” said Derek Connolly, MD, consultant interventional cardiologist at Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. 

“Half of those patients will be on cholesterol tablets because they have early disease, and the other half will have normal coronary arteries,” Connolly continued. 

HeartFlow has been rolled out across the NHS starting last month as part of the MedTech Funding Mandate policy, which is an NHS long term plan commitment that supports the implementation of medical devices, diagnostics, and digital products. NHS has also rolled out GammaCore, a technological solution to those suffering from cluster headaches, as part of the commitment plan.

With 3D imaging, healthcare professionals can access new angles, resolutions, and details that offer a better understanding of a patient’s medical needs. And with more speed and power today, medical imaging is advancing.

Medical imaging that is greatly impacted by 3D medical visualization includes cinematic render for complex regions of the body and tomosynthesis, which improves breast cancer reduction.

Additionally, Massachusetts General Hospital researchers are leading an effort in 3D computing tomography angiography in which medical professionals can better understand what they’re viewing in anatomy and pathology. 

Over the past few years, artificial intelligence has taken medical imaging to the next level. At the end of April, Abbott announced that its artificial intelligence-powered coronary imaging platform launched in Europe. 

The imaging software leverages optical coherence tomography (OCT) to provide physicians a comprehensive view inside an artery or blood vessel using artificial intelligence.