National Heart Centre Singapore develops AI platform to analyse heart attack damage in under 60 seconds

The National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) has developed an AI platform that analyses heart muscle damage from a heart attack in under 60 seconds, achieving 95% accuracy. The tool, called CARDIA-GM, arrives as cardiovascular disease remains the country's top killer, accounting for nearly one-third of all deaths and more than 13,000 heart attack episodes each year.

How the platform analyses heart attack damage

CARDIA-GM automatically processes cardiac MRI scans to detect and measure two critical markers of post-heart attack injury: scarred heart muscle tissue and microvascular obstruction. The analysis completes in less than a minute, a task that traditionally requires manual interpretation by specialists and can take considerably longer.

Clinical validation and deployment plans

The research validating CARDIA-GM has been accepted by the Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. The platform received funding from the National Health Innovation Centre and is now in a 12-month development phase, with plans to deploy it across multiple medical centres in Singapore.

This work demonstrates how AI for Science & Research is moving from experimental studies to clinically validated tools. At the same time, the platform's application in cardiac imaging reflects the growing role of AI for Healthcare in diagnostic workflows.

Why this matters for healthcare professionals

For cardiologists and radiologists, a tool that delivers consistent, near-instant analysis of heart attack damage could reduce reporting backlogs and speed up treatment decisions. With heart attack volumes in Singapore exceeding 13,000 annually, and similar prevalence patterns across Asia, the ability to scale accurate MRI interpretation without adding specialist workload addresses a direct clinical need.