AI-powered project at Vancouver hospital aims to transform heart failure detection

A new research project at Vancouver General Hospital is using AI to change how doctors detect heart failure.

A Vancouver-based research team is using artificial intelligence to change how doctors detect and diagnose heart failure—a condition experts say is becoming increasingly common across Canada.

Dr. Christina Luong, a cardiologist and co-director of the VGH-UBC Artificial Intelligence Echo Core Lab, is leading the study, which is funded in part by proceeds from the VGH Millionaire Lottery.

“We are looking to streamline the diagnosis of heart failure,” Luong said.

Her team is developing and validating AI algorithms that analyze heart ultrasound images—known as echocardiograms—to speed up and improve diagnosis. The technology is designed to automatically interpret images, measure heart function with greater precision, and even allow non-experts to use portable handheld ultrasound devices in the field.

“It’s important to determine why a patient has heart failure by one of these mechanisms so that you can pick the right treatment for them, because the treatments can be very different,” Luong said.

The research group holds patents for automated image-quality assessment in cardiac ultrasound and is among the first in Canada to combine multiple AI models into one platform. The system can detect markers of heart failure, triage patients in real time and help clinicians intervene sooner—particularly in smaller or rural communities with limited access to specialists.

Dr. Purang Abolmaesumi, a UBC professor of computer engineering and one of the project’s leads, said the technology is designed to enhance physicians’ decision-making, not replace it.

“Technologies like AI in the context here are being used as a co-pilot for the decision-making process of a physician,” Abolmaesumi said. “They’re support, not a replacement.”

The project is expected to move into its pilot phase next year, when the technology will be tested in real clinical settings at Vancouver General Hospital.

Luong said the hope is to make diagnosing heart failure faster, more accurate and more accessible—improving patient outcomes across the province.