The city of Oulu and the health tech company, Heart2Save, completed a pilot project in 2021 that explored the use of AI in the examination of arrhythmia. The pilot carried out by the Oulu WelfareLab pointed to remarkable savings in the doctor’s time when assessing patients suffering from arrhythmia.
As part of further examination, arrhythmia patients may receive a device that enables them to perform ECG measures at home without a doctor’s supervision. However, this standard procedure still takes a lot of time for the doctor involved in an examination.
During the pilot, for two weeks patients with arrhythmia symptoms measured the electrical activity of their hearts at home with the Awario service. The goal was to determine any change in the heart’s beating pattern and its frequency. As soon as AI detected any irregularities, the information was immediately available to the doctor. As a result, the doctor’s time spent on analysing and interpreting ECG recordings was reduced by more than 90 percent.
The person involved in the development of the product idea for intelligent arrhythmia detection is Helena Jäntti. The results of the pilot are currently available for the use of the City of Oulu’s health services in the treatment of patients suffering from arrhythmia.
Read more in Finnish.
Image: Marc Sabat