The American Heart Association (AHA) conference is one of the most anticipated cardiology events in the world, bringing together 15,000 to 18,000 attendees each year—from trailblazing researchers to frontline clinicians and innovators shaping the future of heart health. This year’s AHA Conference in Chicago did not disappoint. The energy was palpable as groundbreaking advancements and impactful discussions took center stage. At Powerful Medical, we were honored to be part of this extraordinary event, sharing our AI-powered solutions, connecting with visionary minds in cardiology, and celebrating the innovative research driving the next frontier of cardiac care.
Showcasing AI-Powered Cardiac Diagnostics
Our presence at AHA 2024 was an incredible opportunity to connect with healthcare professionals and demonstrate how our AI-powered tool, PMcardio, affectionately known as the Queen of Hearts, is setting new standards in diagnostic accuracy and speed. From engaging discussions to thought-provoking sessions and poster presentations, we were thrilled to see the interest in leveraging AI for tackling some of the most pressing challenges in cardiovascular care.
Powerful Voices on the Global Stage
Our team, including Dr. Robert Herman, Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer, and Dr. Timea Kisova, Clinical Research Lead, presented cutting-edge research that demonstrates how PMcardio is enabling earlier, more accurate unbiased diagnosis and intervention in cardiac care.
Dr. Robert Herman presented “Deep-learning Assisted ECG-based Emergent Cathlab Activation: First Prospective Implementation of a Smartphone-based System,” highlighting our innovative solution for optimizing emergency pathways in chest pain patients. This first prospective performance evaluation in a large, all-comer atraumatic chest pain cohort demonstrated the high accuracy of our unbiased, AI-powered ECG in detecting acute coronary occlusion. The AI model demonstrated a sensitivity of 95.7% in detecting OMI, significantly outperforming the standard ECG machine’s sensitivity of 47.8%.
The study concluded that this technology not only improves the identification of acute coronary occlusion but also has the potential to reduce unnecessary cath lab activations while ensuring timely referral for invasive management, ultimately enhancing ACS patient outcomes in real-world clinical settings1.
He also shared findings from the study “AI-powered Smartphone Application for Detecting Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction Using 12-lead ECG,” showcasing how the smartphone-integrated AI model reliably detects reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) from standard 12-lead ECGs. The results highlight its potential as a valuable point-of-care screening tool, helping to identify patients who may need further echocardiographic evaluation and streamlining their path to timely management2.
Dr. Timea Kisova presented compelling data from the study ‘’Female Patients with Occlusive Myocardial Infarction without ST Elevation Experience Longer Delays in Receiving Emergent Reperfusion’’ on gender disparities in myocardial infarction treatment within the NSTEMI-OMI category of patients, emphasizing the longer delays women face in receiving emergent reperfusion therapies. Her findings, from an international multi-centric validation of consecutive patients with acute coronary occlusion, revealed a significant sex disparity: female patients experienced a 4.4-hour delay to reperfusion compared to males. This underscores the urgent need for unbiased diagnostic strategies to address sex differences in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) presentation3. The presentation highlighted the potential for AI to bridge these gaps, addressing diagnostic blind spots and improving outcomes for underrepresented populations, as discussed in our recent blog, “Women’s Health and Cardiac Care: A Call to Action.”
Highlights from Partnering Research Centers
The conference was also a platform for external research studies validating our AI technology, demonstrating the transformative potential of QoH in acute MI detection and management.
Mount Sinai, NYC
Dr. Sara Diaz from Mount Sinai Morningside in New York presented ‘’Enhancing Detection of Occlusive Myocardial Infarction: AI Model Versus Traditional STEMI Criteria’’ highlighting how our AI model nearly doubles the sensitivity of traditional STEMI criteria for detecting occlusive myocardial infarction (OMI)4. This finding underscores the critical role of AI in enabling earlier and more accurate diagnosis and intervention. The AI’s high specificity in detecting STEMI-OMI may also reduce false-positive catheterization lab activations while ensuring no true-positive STEMI-OMI cases are missed4.
Washington University, St. Louis
Dr. Bach from Washington University Hospital in St. Louis emphasized QoH’s predictive power for identifying OMI confirmed at coronary angiography. The study “Predictive Power of AI-Based Queen of Hearts Model in Identifying OMI Confirmed at Coronary Angiography” demonstrated that the AI-based QoH model was highly predictive of OMI. The findings suggest that implementing this model may help clinicians identify the risk of OMI in patients triggering a catheterization lab activation (CLA), potentially reducing false-positive CLAs and enhancing the precision and efficiency of patient care5.
Driving Conversations on Health Equity
Health equity remains a cornerstone of our mission at Powerful Medical. At AHA 2024, our team actively contributed to discussions on how AI can bridge diagnostic gaps and ensure timely, accurate care for all patients, regardless of geographic location or resource availability. These conversations underscored the potential for AI-driven tools to reduce disparities in cardiac care by supporting clinicians with standardized, precise diagnostics that transcend systemic biases and resource limitations.
This theme resonated deeply throughout the conference, as clinicians and researchers alike explored the transformative potential of innovative technologies to make cardiac care more inclusive and accessible – not only for patients but also for the clinicians tasked with delivering life-saving interventions. The promise of AI tools that perform consistently and equitably across diverse populations offers a hopeful vision of the future, where personalized care is within reach for everyone.
Triumph in the Health Tech Competition
We are proud to announce that Powerful Medical was named both the Best Science Start Up and Overall Winner at the prestigious AHA Scientific Sessions Health Tech Competition 2024. Delivered by our CEO, Martin Herman, and our CMO, Dr. Robert Herman, these winning presentations highlighted the potential of our flagship product, PMcardio, to revolutionize cardiovascular care through innovative AI solutions.
Competing against leading health tech startups, Powerful Medical impressed a distinguished panel of judges – including top physicians, scientists, and industry leaders – with the scientific rigor, clinical impact, and scalability of PMcardio. This award underscores our dedication to transforming cardiac care by tackling global challenges like misdiagnosis and delayed treatment, empowering clinicians to provide equitable, timely, and precise care for their patients.
Looking Ahead
The AHA 2024 Conference reinforced the pivotal role of AI in cardiology and validated our efforts to advance diagnostic accuracy, streamline decision-making, and save lives. We are grateful to our collaborators, partners, and the cardiology community for their support and dedication to improving patient care.
As we move forward, we remain focused on translating the insights and energy from AHA 2024 into actionable advancements for clinicians and patients. Together, we are redefining the future of cardiovascular care.
References
- Herman R, Lauwers R, Pletnickx D, Meyers H, Smith S, Kisova T, et al. Deep-learning assisted ECG-based emergent cathlab activation: first prospective implementation of a smartphone-based system [abstract]. Circulation. 2024;150(Suppl_1). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1161/circ.150.suppl_1.4139994
- Demolder A, Herman R, Vavrik B, Martonak M, Boza V, Herman M, Paluš T, et al. AI-powered smartphone application for detection of left ventricular systolic dysfunction using 12-lead ECG [abstract]. Circulation. 2024;150(Suppl_1). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1161/circ.150.suppl_1.4141318
- Kisova T, Herman R, Demolder A, Bahyl J, Hybasek Dzurikova H, Smith S, Meyers H, et al. Female patients with occlusive myocardial infarction without ST elevation experience longer delays in receiving emergent reperfusion [abstract]. Circulation. 2024;150(Suppl_1). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1161/circ.150.suppl_1.4140044
- Choi J, Torelli V, Diaz S, Vaish E, Katic L, Nagourney A, Khan Z, Silverman A, Farhan S. AI-enhanced recognition of occlusion in acute coronary syndrome (AERO-ACS): a retrospective review [abstract]. Circulation. 2024;150(Suppl_1). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1161/circ.150.suppl_1.4144910
- Harris S, Brown F, May A, Bach R. Artificial intelligence tool accurately predicts occlusion myocardial infarction and may reduce false-positive cath lab activations [abstract]. Circulation. 2024;150(Suppl_1). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1161/circ.150.suppl_1.4144603