The risk of heart disease in people with diabetes could be reduced through artificial intelligence with a new university research project that aims to push personalised, preventative healthcare powered by smart technology.
By combining AI with tools already in use, like smartwatches and smartphones, and building on the popularity of these devices, the project’s objective is to bring heart monitoring directly into people’s homes and hands to detect early warning signs and protect their health.
Cardiovascular disease remains one of the biggest national and world health challenges. Including heart attacks, heart failure and other serious conditions, it is the leading killer globally, accounting for nearly half the deaths in Europe, while about one in three die from heart-related conditions in Malta.
Senior lecturer Dr Kenneth Scerri“These worrying numbers are expected to rise as more people develop risk factors like diabetes and hypertension. Yet many people at risk are simply unaware until it is too late,” said lead researcher Dr Kenneth Scerri from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Malta.
More likely to develop cardiovascular problems, many diabetes patients, however, may not even know they are at risk, especially if they have not yet shown obvious symptoms, Scerri pointed out.
The research project, CAIRED – Cardiovascular Artificial Intelligence: e-Health for Diabetes, is designed to change that. It has just been awarded funding by Beating Hearts Malta.
The local NGO funds innovative research in cardiovascular medicine at the university. The grant to CAIRED was received through the RIDT – University of Malta Research Trust.
Dr Liam ButlerWith heart health continuing to decline, and with the increasing use of smart devices in everyday life, this is a unique opportunity to make preventative cardiovascular care more accessible by tapping into AI and the power of electrocardiograms, Scerri said.
Doctors can detect early signs of cardiovascular disease using an ECG to record the electrical activity of the heart, and thanks to the popularity of smartwatches, a simpler version of the test that captures heart data from one position on the body, can now be recorded at home, he continued.
“While this is less detailed than a hospital-grade ECG, it still contains valuable information,” Scerri explained, adding the fact that many people already wear these devices every day opens up “exciting new possibilities for health monitoring”.
‘Explainable AI’
In the innovative CAIRED project, the research team is using AI to study ECG data – simple heart rhythm recordings – to find early warning signs of heart problems.
The work was started by Dr Liam Butler while lecturing in the US, and his ideas have continued to be developed on his return to Malta.
“AI is like giving computers a kind of intuition – the ability to spot patterns in data that are too subtle or complex for humans to detect on their own,” Scerri explained.
“The project will analyse ECG recordings from a large number of people, including those with and without known heart disease. Taken from trusted medical databases, the goal is to teach the AI to recognise the small changes in heart activity that might suggest someone is at risk, even if they feel completely healthy.
In the innovative CAIRED project, the research team is using AI to study ECG data to find early warning signs of heart problems.“What makes this approach especially powerful is that it does not rely on visible symptoms; the AI learns from patterns that can be invisible to the eye,” Scerri said.
But CAIRED also goes a step further. The research team is using “explainable AI”, meaning it will not just boil a result down to high or low risk of cardiovascular disease, but it will also highlight the parts of the ECG that indicate that risk.
“This can help both doctors and patients understand why there is a risk, turning the AI into a teaching tool as well as a detector,” Scerri said about the innovative factor.
Eventually, the team aims to build a simple, easy-to-use tool that works with a smartwatch or smartphone, whereby individuals can take a short ECG reading using their watch.
This would offer a personalised risk check, offering peace of mind or an early nudge to speak to a healthcare professional, Scerri said.
“With explainable AI, the process is not only smart but also transparent, helping people feel more informed and in control of their heart health.”
In future, this tool could even help inform doctors for early prevention strategies, Scerri said. By highlighting who may be at higher risk, doctors can focus on those who need further testing or treatment the most, saving lives and easing the pressure on healthcare services as well as reducing societal burdens.
The project reflects a growing movement to combine medicine with technology to support personalised, preven-
tative care. It will include the creation of public engagement materials to help raise awareness and show how this technology works.
The research team is also already looking ahead with CAIRED Two, an ambitious follow-up project designed to take AI-driven heart health monitoring “another step ahead”.
While not yet funded, it aims to take the ECG-AI models out of the lab and into real-world use by integrating them directly into smartphones and smartwatches so that users would eventually not only be able to record an ECG using their watch, but also send it to their phone, and receive a quick and clear health update – “all on the go”.
