Computer science gives a boost to heart health
A new study shows that using a computer science technique to help determine the risk of death among heart attack patients yields more accurate results, and could save lives.Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the University of Michigan, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School developed the new technique. It searches for subtle indicators of risk hidden in a patient’s electrocardiograms (EKG), which measure and display electrical activity in the heart. Current methods of assessing the risk of death in patients who have suffered a heart attack generally succeed in predicting only a small percentage of subsequent fatalities. The study was conducted by CSAIL researchers John Guttag, the Dugald C. Jackson Professor of Computer Science and Engineering; Collin Stultz, the W.M. Keck Career Development Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Zeeshan Syed of the University of Michigan; and Benjamin M. Scirica of Brigham and...