By Andrew Gregory
Publication Date: 2026-04-08 14:00:00
Oxford scientists have developed a simple AI tool that can predict the risk of heart failure five years before it develops.
More than 60 million people worldwide suffer from the condition in which the heart cannot pump blood throughout the body as well as it should. Experts say detecting cases before they develop into heart failure would be a major advance. Doctors could better prepare for the disease and treat it at an earlier stage or even prevent it altogether.
The AI tool, developed by a team at the University of Oxford, looks for signs in the fat around the heart that indicate whether it is inflamed and unhealthy. The signs are not visible to the human eye.
Until now, there has been no way to accurately predict heart failure using routine cardiac CT scans, the researchers said. The tool provides doctors with a patient’s risk assessment, which could help them make decisions about care, such as how closely patients should be monitored.
Those in the highest risk group were 20 times more likely to…
