NHS introduces 3D heart scans to diagnose patients in 20 minutes

Patients with life-threatening coronary heart disease will be treated five times faster thanks to 3D scans being introduced on the NHS that allow for a diagnosis in just 20 minutes.

The revolutionary technology can turn a regular CT scan of the heart into a 3D image, allowing doctors to diagnose them rapidly, NHS England said.

It added that about 100,000 people will be eligible to use the HeartFlow technology over the next three years.

Patients – who would previously have had to undergo an invasive and time-consuming angiogram in hospital – will now be seen, diagnosed and treated around five times faster.

The new technology, introduced from last month, is part of the NHS long-term plan to cut the number of heart attacks and strokes by 150,000.

NHS England said more people here will have access to the potentially life-saving technology than anywhere else in Europe, the US or Japan.

Matt Whitty, director of innovation and life sciences for NHS England, said HeartFlow had been a “huge success” in clinical trials and would now help “tens of thousands of people a year receive quick diagnosis and treatment and ultimately save lives”.

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Source: The Guardian. 4 May 2021