DETECT AI
Early detection of Coronary Artery Calcification from Routine Chest CT scans Using Artificial Intelligence (2025–2030, Innovation Fund Denmark)
DETECT AI – Early Detection of Coronary Artery Calcification from Routine Chest CT Scans Using Artificial Intelligence
| Period | 2025 – 2030 |
| Funding | 20.3M DKK |
| Funder | Innovation Fund Denmark |
| PI | Axel Diederichsen |
| Co-PI | Victoria |
| Role | Partner |
Overview
Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a strong marker of coronary artery disease and future cardiovascular risk. Today, CAC is usually assessed with dedicated cardiac CT scans, which are only performed for a limited group of patients.
At the same time, a very large number of chest CT scans are performed every day for other reasons, such as lung cancer screening, trauma or infection. These routine scans often contain the information needed to assess CAC, but it is rarely evaluated.
Our approach: opportunistic screening
DETECT AI takes an opportunistic approach: we develop novel AI techniques that infer CAC risk assessment from chest CT scans that were taken for other purposes. This makes it possible to identify people at elevated cardiovascular risk early, without extra scans, extra radiation or extra cost, so that preventive treatment can start before a cardiac event occurs.