HeartFlow, a California-based healthcare technology company, announced that hospitals in England are now required to use the company’s AI-based fractional flow reserve CT (FFRct) software to diagnose patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).
The software, HeartFlow Analysis, creates a personalized 3D model of a patient’s coronary arteries using CT angiography data. The model then simulates blood flow, indicating how blockages may be affecting the patient’s health and helping physicians determine if further treatment is necessary.
HeartFlow Analysis is one of numerous healthcare solutions included in NHS England’s new MedTech Funding Mandate, which aims to speed up patient care, improve outcomes and reduce costs through the use of advanced technology. The mandate goes into effect on April 1, and more information is available on the NHS England website.
NHS England also recently announced that HeartFlow Analysis will receive extended funding through its Innovation and Technology Payment (ITP) program.
“The new MedTech Funding Mandate helps bring world-leading medical innovations to patients across NHSE hospitals,” Lance Scott, HeartFlow’s chief commercial officer, said in a prepared statement. “The HeartFlow Analysis is already available in a number of English hospitals, and today’s announcement, coupled with the immediate funding unlocked through the ITP program, means we can rapidly scale and ensure more clinicians across England have access to the HeartFlow Analysis to non-invasively diagnose CHD and formulate treatment plans for their patients.”
“The HeartFlow Analysis is a great tool to supplement a CT-first approach by providing functional information on top of the anatomical information from a CT scan,” Anna Beattie, MBChB, BSc, a cardiothoracic radiologist at Newcastle Hospitals with experience using the FFRct software, said in the same statement. “This is great for patients as it reduces unnecessary risks and means they spend less time at the hospital.”
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.