Artificial intelligence and the electrocardiogram: A modern renaissance.

Journal: European journal of internal medicine
Published Date:

Abstract

Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) with electrocardiograms (ECG) represents a transformative shift in cardiovascular medicine, marking a modern renaissance of this traditional diagnostic technique. This article explores recent advancements in AI-enhanced ECG technologies, highlighting their potential to improve diagnostic accuracy, predict cardiovascular events, and enable personalized patient care. AI-driven ECG interpretation has demonstrated groundbreaking capabilities in the field of both structural and electrical heart diseases. Furthermore, deep learning techniques have expanded diagnostic capabilities by identifying subtle ECG patterns invisible to the human eye, improving the detection of several cardiac disorders. The increasing integration of AI-ECG into wearable technologies extends cardiac monitoring beyond conventional clinical settings, providing continuous, real-time health assessment. Despite these advancements, the widespread adoption of AI-ECG faces several challenges, such as the need for high-quality training data, ensuring algorithm generalizability across diverse populations, addressing bias in model training, and meeting critical regulatory and ethical standards. Moreover, concerns regarding explainability, physician deskilling, legal accountability, and the lack of high-quality studies proving improved patient outcomes remain key obstacles. By enhancing precision in detecting cardiovascular conditions and expanding access to proactive heart health monitoring, AI-enhanced ECG technology holds immense potential for reshaping cardiovascular diagnostics and management, always aiming at maintaining physician trust and patient safety.

Authors

  • Stefano Palermi
    Department of Medicine and Surgery, UniCamillus Saint Camillus International University of Health Sciences, Rome, Italy.
  • Marco Vecchiato
    Sports and Exercise Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
  • Fu Siong Ng
    National Heart and Lung Institute, Hammersmith Campus, Imperial College London, 72 Du Cane Road, W12 0HS, London, UK.
  • Zachi Attia
    Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
  • Youngjin Cho
    Department of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam.
  • Matteo Anselmino
    Division of Cardiology, "Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino" Hospital, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
  • Gaetano Maria De Ferrari
    Coronary Care Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
  • Andrea Saglietto
    Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department, "Città della Salute e della Scienza" Hospital, Corso Bramante 88, 10126 Turin, Italy.

Keywords

No keywords available for this article.