ProCardio - Precision Health Center for optimized cardiac care

Heart disease can strike at any age and lead to chronic illness or strike suddenly in the form of cardiac arrest. It is the leading cause of death worldwide. Our center ProCardio will contribute with new methods to improve the life prospects of heart patients and prevent cardiac arrest. We will use artificial intelligence to improve patient follow-up and avoid both overtreatment and undertreatment. Many heart diseases have a chronic course with worsening over time, such as valvular diseases, heart failure, heart muscle diseases, and heart damage after cancer treatment. It is important to find the right time to initiate a treatment such as heart valve surgery or the insertion of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator as this will vary individually. ProCardio will develop new methods that determine each patient's course and the optimal time for treatment to reduce suffering and prevent sudden death. In ProCardio, researchers and industrial partners collaborate to ensure that our ideas become products that benefit patients. Researchers from Oslo University Hospital, the University of Oslo, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, SIMULA and Sørlandet Hospital are working together with GE Healthcare and GE Vingmed, which produce ultrasound devices for cardiac examinations, Medtronic, which develops implantable defibrillators and the DIPS patient record system. Furthermore, SESAM, which ensures secure data processing, and the Baker Institute from Australia, which will contribute a clinical database, are collaborating. Together, we will improve the prognosis of heart disease patients. In 2021, we at ProCardio have started work on developing logarithms that can process various medical data and, through artificial intelligence, tell us what the next examination or treatment should be. We are also working on developing hardware and software that will make everyday life easier and more predictable for both practitioners and patients. In connection with the pandemic, we have started research on how heart function is after undergoing Covid-19 infection. We have been active in sports seminars and have started research on the effect of sports on the heart and how we can prevent sudden death in athletes. In 2022, we have started research in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health on how people who have developed myocarditis after the Covid-19 vaccine fare. We have also participated in international congresses and initiated collaboration with our international partners. In 2023, we have continued to work on developing smarter solutions for the follow-up of heart patients. We have started new studies on drug treatment for difficult rhythm disorders in patients with mitral valve disease. We are also collaborating with industry in a study in which we are testing a new drug for thickened heart muscle (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). In 2024, we have focused on our randomized researcher-initiated study in which we are testing different combinations of antiarrhythmic medication in patients with valvular disease on the risk of sudden death. The patients participating in the study have their heart rhythms continuously monitored with the help of a small rhythm recorder that is inserted under the skin. Half of the patients are included. We have been working on simulation of heart valve mechanics using computer models to better understand how cardiac arrhythmias occur. We are working on a dashboard for healthcare professionals that summarizes clinical data from patients who have undergone cancer treatment and who are at risk of developing heart disease due to the treatment. The goal is to create a decision support tool for doctors who treat these patient groups.