Performing automated CT-derived fractional flow reserve with Shukun Technology’s software reduced referrals to invasive coronary angiography by 19% in a new study in Radiology. The findings suggest that software-based FFR-CT can serve a gatekeeper role in managing workup of patients with suspected coronary artery disease.
Cardiac CT has been a revolutionary tool for assessing people with heart problems, evolving rapidly into a first-line modality that’s eclipsed other more traditional imaging technologies.
- But CCTA’s prowess also has a downside – more referrals to invasive coronary angiography, in some cases for patients without obstructive disease.
Rising to this challenge is FFR-CT, which uses automated software to calculate maximum blood flow in the coronary arteries and detect dangerous coronary lesions that could be early signs of a cardiac event.
- The segment to date has been dominated by HeartFlow, thanks to its early start in the field: its FFRCT software got FDA clearance in 2014 and the company has used its dominance to build a massive cash position.
In the new China CT-FFR Study 3, researchers in China used another FFR-CT application, Shukun’s skCT-FFR, and compared angio referral rates for 5.3k patients with suspected coronary artery disease who were scanned with either CCTA alone or CCTA and FFR-CT. They found …
- Referral rates were lower for those who got FFR-CT (10% vs. 12.4%), a 19% relative difference.
- Fewer cardiac events occurred in the FFR-CT group at one year (0.5% vs. 1.1%).
- There was no statistically significant difference in major adverse cardiac event rates at 90 days (0.5% vs. 0.8%, p=0.12) and one year (2.9% vs. 2.8%, p=0.9).
Shukun is not as well known in the West as other developers of FFR-CT software like HeartFlow, but the company has raised over $250M to date – enough to land it in the top echelon of AI developers.
- One advantage of Shukun that was evident with the new study is that image processing was performed on-site, rather than being shipped off-site as is the case with other applications.
The Takeaway
The study shows that FFR-CT can make cardiac CT more precise while tamping down on referrals to invasive angiography that have come from growing CT use. The results should also help put Shukun on the radar of many industry observers in a segment that so far has been dominated by HeartFlow.
