Pulmonary hypertension is a highly fatal cardiopulmonary disease that often suffers from delayed diagnosis due to subtle early symptoms, increasing patient mortality risk. Taipei Veterans General Hospital recently announced a major research breakthrough, completing the world’s first multinational and multicenter validation of an "ECG-Based Pulmonary Hypertension Detection System." This system can automatically analyze electrocardiograms within 10 minutes and instantly transmit positive high-risk patient results to clinicians, assisting in timely scheduling of further examinations such as echocardiography, thereby improving survival rates.

The cardiology teams from Taipei and Taichung Veterans General Hospitals collaborated with the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, and medical institutions in Japan to develop this ECG pulmonary hypertension detection system. It has undergone cross-hospital and cross-country validation at three hospitals in Taiwan and two in Japan, demonstrating high stability and broad compatibility with various ECG machine models. The system has already been integrated into real clinical settings.

Globally, over 25 million people suffer from pulmonary hypertension, but due to the lack of immediate and convenient screening tools, diagnoses are often delayed, leading to high mortality rates. This newly developed detection system combines artificial intelligence with ECG analysis technology, requiring no additional clinical parameters. Using common ECG machines and personal computers, it can complete readings within 5 to 10 minutes. Its diagnostic performance significantly surpasses traditional physician assessments, achieving a sensitivity of 83.1%.

The system is planned for expansion to primary care, clinics, and health screening centers as an important tool for national health prevention. Its low cost and high efficiency also make it suitable for inclusion in the National Health Insurance and nationwide health screening programs, potentially reducing healthcare costs and social burdens. Professor Yu-Feng Hu from Taipei Veterans General Hospital’s Department of Cardiology, part of the development team, stated, “We hope that this AI-assisted diagnostic tool will enable earlier detection and treatment for more high-risk individuals, ultimately improving overall survival rates.”

Resource: 肺高壓診斷大突破 10分鐘知結果