New technologies are offering hope for individuals living with heart failure and those at risk of developing it. Advances range from minimally invasive devices to artificial intelligence-powered diagnostic tools, representing a shift towards earlier detection and more effective treatment strategies.
A New Device for HFpEF Heart Failure
A tiny, implantable device is currently being tested at Scripps La Jolla, one of 65 hospitals worldwide participating in a clinical trial seeking FDA approval. This technology is designed for patients with HFpEF (heart failure with preserved ejection fraction), a specific type of heart failure that has historically been difficult to treat. , February 4, 2026, this device represents a significant step forward in managing this condition.
Amy Vasquez, a patient participating in the trial, shared her experience. Before receiving the device, she struggled with shortness of breath even with minimal exertion, such as walking up a slight incline. “Even that hill before would have been getting me to the point where I couldn’t really breathe,” she said. Vasquez, who previously enjoyed an active lifestyle including dancing, Pilates, boxing, yoga, and hiking, found her activities severely limited after being diagnosed with HFpEF in 2016. She expressed concern about the prognosis, noting that information available online suggested a limited lifespan after hospitalization for the condition.
HFpEF affects approximately 3 million people in the United States, accounting for nearly half of all heart failure diagnoses, according to the National Institutes of Health. The device aims to improve the quality of life for individuals like Vasquez, offering a potential solution for a previously untreatable condition.
3D-Printed Heart Tissue for Personalized Medicine
Researchers at the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation (HLI) at St. Paul’s Hospital have developed a custom 3D printer capable of creating living human heart tissue from patient-derived stem cells. This breakthrough, reported on , allows for the creation of highly consistent and reproducible tissue samples that closely mimic the behavior of real human hearts.
This technology is being hailed as a “clinical trial in a dish,” enabling faster, cheaper, and more accurate testing of new treatments. Researchers can now test drugs on tissue that is genetically identical to individual patients, paving the way for more personalized medicine and reducing the reliance on animal models. The team, led by Dr. Zach Laksman, is working to increase the complexity of the printed tissue and incorporate vascular systems, with the long-term goal of printing heart patches or even entire organs.
Collaborative bioengineering efforts are focused on vascularized tissue printing, aiming to expand the applications of regenerative medicine beyond the heart to other organs, such as the lungs.
AI-Powered Diagnostics: Early Detection of Heart Attack Risk
Naples Comprehensive Health (NCH) has become the first hospital in the United States to utilize CaRi-Heart®, an AI-powered technology that can predict a patient’s risk of heart attack up to 10 years in advance. This landmark collaboration with Caristo Diagnostics, announced on , represents a new paradigm in cardiovascular medicine, shifting the focus from responding to cardiac events to preventing them.
CaRi-Heart® builds upon the FDA-cleared CaRi-Plaque™ technology, which analyzes coronary CT angiography (CCTA) scans to identify high-risk plaque. However, CaRi-Heart™ goes further by detecting and quantifying coronary inflammation, an early driver of heart disease, even before visible plaque develops. According to research published in The Lancet in 2024, this technology can provide a risk score to help doctors and patients understand the likelihood of a cardiac event, even in the absence of plaque.
The CaRi-Heart technology is already widely used in Europe and is currently under FDA review. “This NCH-Caristo collaboration represents a new paradigm in cardiovascular medicine,” said Dee Dee Wang, MD, Section Head of Cardiac Imaging at NCH Rooney Heart Institute. “Doctors are used to responding to cardiac events after they happen.”
AI Stethoscope for Rapid Heart Condition Detection
A new AI-powered stethoscope is capable of detecting heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and heart valve disease in as little as 15 seconds. Trials involving over 12,000 patients have demonstrated that this technology significantly improves early diagnosis, potentially saving lives by enabling timely treatment. Experts suggest this new technology could be a “game-changer,” allowing for patients to be treated sooner.
These advancements collectively highlight a growing trend in cardiovascular medicine: the integration of innovative technologies to improve diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of heart disease. While each technology addresses a different aspect of cardiac care, they share a common goal of improving patient outcomes and extending lives.
