A total of 300 patients across the three institutions will be involved in the trial. ST PHOTO: TARYN NG

SINGAPORE – A new artificial intelligence (AI) system which will reduce the time required for a cardiac scan analysis and allow for faster diagnosis of coronary artery disease will be available at three public hospitals here as part of a year-long trial.

The Singapore heart lesion analyser (Sense) will be trialled at the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS), the National University Hospital and Tan Tock Seng Hospital in the third quarter of 2025.

A total of 300 patients across the three institutions will be involved in the trial.

Sense will use sophisticated computational capabilities and algorithms to interpret cardiac imaging scans and evaluate the risk of coronary artery disease in under 10 minutes.

This is a process which typically requires two to four hours of analysis by radiographers and cardiologists, said Assistant Professor Lohendran Baskaran, senior consultant with the NHCS cardiology department.  

“Sometimes it can take longer because doctors are busy doing other things in between all these scans, such as seeing patients in-clinic,” said Prof Lohendran.

Sense automates this process, analysing CT scans to establish the amount of calcium deposits in the coronary arteries and epicardial adipose tissue – the layer of fat surrounding the heart and major coronary arteries.

It has shown between 85 per cent and 99 per cent accuracy so far, Prof Lohendran said, though he noted these results have been from the use of Sense in a controlled environment.