AI vs MD ECG-Reading for Cath Lab Activation (This Week in Cardiology, by Dr. John Mandrola)

Interventional cardiologist and Co-director of the Cardiovascular Center in Aalst, Belgium — one of the world’s leading heart centers. A Fogarty International NIH Fellow at Harvard Medical School and visiting Professor of Medicine at Catholic University Leuven, he has authored more than 240 peer-reviewed publications in heart failure and structural heart disease, and anchors Powerful Medical’s clinical and research strategy.

Simon began his engineering career at Microsoft and holds a Master’s in Informatics from the University of Edinburgh. He built Powerful Medical’s technology organization from zero, scaling it to a 20+ engineer team and leading the platform architecture that powers a CE-certified Class IIb medical device used in hospitals across Europe.

Viktor has spent over a decade designing digital products across healthcare and software and has been the design and product force behind PMcardio since the first prototype. He sets the bar for how a clinical-grade product should feel in a physician’s hands — fast, clear, and trustworthy at the point of care.

Felix studied at the Technical University of Munich and was part of the TUM Hyperloop team that repeatedly competed and won in Elon Musk’s SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition. He brings a rare combination of engineering rigor, regulatory discipline, and operational excellence to the company, leading operations, compliance, certification, quality management, and global market access since day one.

Robert is a physician-scientist, served on the Research, Digital and Innovation Committee of the European Society of Cardiology. He bridges the worlds of medicine and artificial intelligence, connecting clinicians, AI researchers, and regulators to translate algorithms into clinical practice. Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe 2024.

Martin started coding at 14 and moved to Silicon Valley at 18, founding several companies including a US-based startup before returning to Europe with his brother Robert to build Powerful Medical. He comes from a family of doctors, which shaped his conviction that AI belongs wherever it can genuinely save lives. Forbes 30 Under 30 (Europe 2024).

Contrary to popular belief, a heart attacks isn’t a blockage inside of the heart. A heart attack is a blockage of the coronary arteries supplying the heart muscle with oxygenated blood.

So let’s assume you get a blood clot here — it blocks the blood flow downstream, meaning the heart muscle doesn’t get oxygenated blood and heart tissue downstream starts to die.