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Cardiac-a-vest! Remarkable garment could save lives by predicting heart attack risk

This groundbreaking vest could alert those with heart problems to a potential cardiac episode before it even happens.

Electrical signals orchestrate the rhythmic contractions of our hearts, regulating our heartbeat. Disruptions in these signals lead to heart rhythm disorders affecting two million people in the UK, potentially resulting in sudden death.

The electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI) vest, developed by researchers at University College London (UCL) and detailed in a recent Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance paper, looks set to revolutionise heart electrical activity mapping. Traditional methods involved invasive catheters or single-use devices, both resource-intensive and often involving radiation.

The UCL-developed ECGI vest, funded by the British Heart Foundation and the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, offers a reusable and time-efficient alternative, requiring just five minutes per patient. Equipped with 256 sensors, the vest's electrical data combines with detailed MRI images to generate 3D digital models of the heart and its electrical activity waves. The doctors behind the insights will remarkable vest can be used as a screening tool and hope it may even identify those at the highest risk of a deadly episode before it occurs. The researchers aim to improve risk stratification, aiding in identifying individuals who may benefit from implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs).

Inventor Dr. Gaby Captur noted, "We believe the vest we have developed could be a quick and cost-effective screening tool and that the rich electrical information it provides could help us better identify people's risk of life-threatening heart rhythms in the future."

Cardiologist Dr. Matthew Webber, co-developer of the vest, highlighted its ability to fill a crucial gap in heart imaging.

"Cardiac MRI, the gold standard in heart imaging, shows us the health of the heart muscle tissue, including where dead muscle cells might be," he said. "In-depth electrocardiographic imaging can help us correlate these features with their consequences - the impact they may be having on the heart's electrical system. It adds a missing part of the puzzle."

Reference: Cover Media