CINCINNATI — Ohio researchers are working on new AI technology that they say can save lives. It is supposed to be able to detect a heart attack or heart disease during a routine women's health exam. 

What You Need To Know

  • Genexia Health, a startup company out of Cincinnati, is working on AI technology that can detect heart disease in women during a routine mammogram 

  • Researchers say the AI uses a special algorithm based on the images from a mammogram to diagnose risk for heart disease 

  • Researchers expect the technology to be available by the year 2027 after they get FDA approval 

Kelly Cohen had no idea when he was having a heart attack. 

“There are these symptoms that my wife noticed,” said Cohen, “I started sweating very profusely, I also had some heartburn, that was it.”

His wife called an ambulance and he got to the hospital in enough time that it saved his life

“I asked my physician, my cardiologist, after I survived the heart attack, what could I have done differently?," said Cohen, "What would have saved me? he said, 'had you had we known you had a risk, we would have put you on a statin and that would have made a big difference.”

That is why he says he is trying to change that

“Women are not as fortunate. the symptoms are not that observable as with a man," said Cohen. "I hope that our technology would make the difference and provide women with the chance I was provided."

Cohen’s the co-founder of Genexia Health, a startup company in Cincinnati helping to create AI software that can detect heart disease risk during a mammogram.

“The mammograms, the same mammogram, the image is the same image. What you have is this AI entity, which is an algorithm that would access the image, take the information, make the assessment of risks, and provide that in the form of a report,” said Cohen.

He teamed up with Dino Martis, CEO of Genexia Health, to develop it.

“By attaching this diagnostic to the mammogram, which they conveniently and regularly engage with, we are now able to proactively identify coronary artery disease for women who previously would have been not diagnosed,” said Martis. 

Right now he says they are testing it out at University Hospitals in the Cleveland area and trying to get FDA approval so it can be used nationwide and at no cost to patients.

“This is a novel technology, this does not exist anywhere in the world," said Martis. "This will be the first of its kind."

He says they are expecting to have the technology everywhere in the next few years and be able to tell before the signs of a heart attack before it is too late.

“You just get that added benefit that can make a whole difference in people's lives,” said Cohen.