A silent heart attack, also known as an unrecognised myocardial infarction, is one of the most dangerous conditions that not just damages the heart severely, but comes without obvious warning signs like chest pain or breathlessness. Many people never realise they have had one until life-threatening complications later. However, a new AI-powered ECG screening tool can change that, offering early detection through a simple electronic pad connected to a smartphone.

The new portable screening solution, developed under the leadership of Ziad Obermeyer, an emergency medicine specialist and AI researcher at theUC Berkeley School of Public Health, utilizes the technology of a small electronic ECG pad connected to a mobile phone and integrated with artificial intelligence. The device helps record heart signals through an electrocardiogram (ECG). AI algorithms then analyse patterns that may indicate past silent heart attacks, even when patients had no known symptoms.

Experts believe it is a major shift from traditional diagnostics, which mostly need hospital-based equipment and trained specialists to note the readings.

Obermeyer acknowledges that with just a single ECG, the predictive power may not be good enough to bypass a confirmatory test, but it can still rule out conditions in 90 to 95 per cent of the affected people. He is also working on algorithms that can tell you if somebody is having a heart attack at the moment. Or if they have a blood clot in the lungs, or an abnormality in the aorta called aortic dissection.

Importantly, this technology is currently being tested in Tamil Nadu, marking a significant step in expanding AI-driven diagnostics beyond high-income healthcare systems. The trial aims to assess:

A silent heart attack does not have any symptoms

According to experts, early detection – especially in cardiac care- is key in preventing recurrence. Many patients who suffer a silent heart attack remain untreated simply because they were never diagnosed. Without intervention, they face a much higher risk of a major heart attack, stroke, or even sudden cardiac death.

And so, an AI-enabled ECG screening offers a low-cost, accessible way to bridge this gap.

A silent heart attack does not have any symptoms, or may have mild symptoms, or symptoms that people don’t connect to a heart attack. However, it is still a heart attack, which means your heart is not getting enough blood flow and oxygen. Silent heart attacks can injure your heart just like a more obvious heart attack can. But if you don’t know you’re having a heart attack, you may not get the medical help you need to limit the damage. This is why it’s important to make time to pay attention to how you’re feeling.

Usually, a blood clot causes a heart attack by keeping blood from flowing through one of your coronary arteries. Less often, a coronary artery spasm or injury to your coronary artery wall can cut off your blood flow. Heart attacks can happen when you’re asleep or awake.

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