Allen Taylor explains use of AI CCTA plaque analysis at Medstar to improve risk assessments

A new era in cardiovascular disease prevention is emerging with the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technologies that can deliver coronary plaque assessments based on imaging results. These advanced software offerings result in personalized risk scores that move beyond conventional population-based risk models.

"The use of population tools have led us to a plateau in prevention, where we still have too many people who have cardiovascular events. We have therapies, but we can't get them to the right people because we can't really identify who the right people are. So the paradigm here is to look deeper into patients and move to a disease model. Atherosclerosis has its own pathophysiology, its own outcomes, its own treatments. So let's diagnose that disease and move away from the risk model so we can move from probability, to precision in the care of patients," Allen Taylor, MD, chairman of cardiology at MedStar Heart and Vascular Institute, explained in an interview with Cardiovascular Business.

He is leading efforts to integrate Heartflow's AI Plaque Analysis software into clinical practice.