Reducing the burden of coronary artery disease across the United Kingdom.
Every eight minutes someone dies in the United Kingdom due to coronary artery disease.
According to the British Heart Foundation, the condition is responsible for about 64,000 deaths each year in the UK, an average of about 175 people every day.
As well as sudden deaths from heart attack, there are also 2.3 million people who live with the condition.
At Artrya we want to change the trajectory of coronary artery disease. Artrya Salix is an AI solution that supports the easy and accurate detection and reporting of the presence of coronary artery disease biomarkers, including critical vulnerable plaques.
We want patients to be empowered with knowledge about their coronary artery disease risk. We want clinicians enabled to quickly and accurately report on coronary artery disease. And we want healthcare systems to be equipped with the processes and platforms to support everyone.
This month we have taken another next step in our development as a global MedTech company, signing a commercialisation agreement with Eversana to further our business in the UK.
This agreement will mean Artrya has immediate on-the-ground support to demonstrate and secure local pilots for our AI solution, Artrya Salix, across the United Kingdom ahead of regulatory approvals.
What Artrya means for clinicians.
Artrya Salix offers a breakthrough way to assess coronary artery health with its novel way of visualising the underlying cause of heart attack – vulnerable plaque.
These soft plaques that build up in the arteries are prone to rupture, break away and block the blood vessels, depriving the heart of oxygen.
This presence of vulnerable plaque has previously been difficult and time-consuming to detect on the best non-invasive imaging technique available, CCTA, even by expert readers.
Using the automated, AI-driven technology of Artrya Salix clinicians can be presented with an assessment of calcification, stenosis and vulnerable plaque within minutes that rivals the accuracy of specialist clinicians.
This is one of the ways technologies can support UK clinicians – by speeding up reporting times and enabling them to focus on the highest-risk patients.
Data from The Royal College of Radiologists revealed the NHS workforce was short-staffed by 33 per cent and the system required almost 2000 consultants to meet “safe staffing levels and pre-coronavirus demand for scans”.
More than half (58%) of radiology leaders say they do not have enough diagnostic and interventional radiologists to keep patients safe.
And the problem is getting worse. The College said without more consultants in training, investment in new models of care or better staff retention and recruitment, “by 2025 the UK’s radiologist shortfall will hit 44% (3,613 consultants short of real terms demand)”.
Technology such as Artrya Salix can help meet demand by reducing the time for each coronary artery disease report to about 15 minutes.
What Artrya means for healthcare systems.
As well as supporting clinicians with effective and fast reporting, reducing the burden on healthcare systems, Artrya Salix also has the potential to reduce costs.
The cost to the UK healthcare system of coronary artery disease is currently £7.6 billion. While a fraction of the equivalent impact on the United States system of £188 billion, it remains a significant sum that can be improved with better insight and processes.
AI advances can assist with this by improving specialist workflows and screening out unnecessary further medical procedures or treatments.
In October 2021, Artrya received notification of its successful acceptance of Artrya Salix as an NHS supplier for artificial intelligence software.
Through the NHS Framework Agreement, about 1250 hospitals and other health organisations are able to purchase Artrya Salix under simplified procurement processes and pricing agreements.
With radiologists and cardiologists enabled to assess more patients over a given period, their expert skills would be put to use more efficiently, and there would be the capacity to ease the backlog of medical imaging required.
What Artrya means for patients.
The ability to have a non-invasive, accurate and fast assessment of a person’s coronary artery disease biomarkers is a major breakthrough for patients.
People who know their true coronary artery disease risk will be able to act on it. They could be empowered and motivated to make necessary lifestyle changes, or take the medications as recommended by their doctor.
And with the knowledge of the presence of vulnerable plaques, they could be better prepared and educated about their heart attack risk.
Artrya Salix will offer a rapid, accurate and effective way to see coronary artery disease in the UK.
People will be able to see their heart disease in a new way.