This 14-Year-Old Built an App That Detects Heart Diseases in Seconds

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/this-14-year-old-built-an-app-that-detects-heart-diseases-in-seconds-180986700/

Siddarth Nandyala wants to put his tool in the hands of medical professionals so that they can catch cardiovascular abnormalities in their early stages

In trials in India, Siddarth Nandyala detected and diagnosed more than 40 patients with potential cardiovascular diseases, each within a span of seven seconds. Not a doctor, or a medical student for that matter, the 14-year-old was able to do this thanks to his very own invention, a simple smartphone-based app called Circadian AI.

Last year, for nearly eight months, the Texas-based teenager spent hours huddled over his computer. He had one simple goal—invent an application that can pinpoint cardiovascular abnormalities during their initial stage.

In most cases, a heart attack or stroke is the first sign of a cardiovascular disease. Initial-stage cardiovascular abnormalities are often asymptomatic, and early detection generally depends on routine health checkups, electrocardiograms, stress tests, echocardiograms and blood tests. Certain diagnostic tools like cardiac MRI with late gadolinium enhancement, invasive coronary angiography, right heart catheterization and biomarkers of end-stage damage are only able to detect cardiovascular abnormalities in cases where the patient is already in the late stage and suffering from severe blockages, heart failure or dead tissues.

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