The artificial intelligence (AI) model detects inflammation in the heart that is not visible on CT scans, which combine X-rays and computer technology.
A pilot study backed by NHS England is currently underway at five hospital trusts in Oxford, Milton Keynes, Leicester, Liverpool, and Wolverhampton.
A decision on its use within the NHS is likely in the coming months.
Caristo Diagnostics, an Oxford University spinout company, said it was already working on using the technology to prevent strokes and diabetes.
“This technology is transformational and game changing because, for the first time, we can detect biological processes that do it.
The Orfan research (Oxford Risk Factors and Non-invasive Imaging), which included 40,000 patients and was published in the Lancet, discovered that 80% of them were returned to primary care without a clear prevention or treatment plan.
Focusing on that group, researchers discovered that patients who had inflammation in their coronary arteries had a 20–30 times increased chance of dying from a cardiac event during the next decade.
