Talk about a kid with a lot of heart.
A 14-year-old from Frisco, Texas, developed a groundbreaking smartphone app to detect early signs of heart disease in just seven seconds.
Circadian AI records heart sounds, filters out ambient noise and analyzes the data using a cloud-based machine learning model — all by placing a smartphone near the chest.
It can identify arrhythmias, irregular heartbeats, early signs of heart failure, indicators of coronary artery disease and heart valve abnormalities.
Siddarth Nandyala’s motivation stemmed from his desire to use AI to help people and revolutionize the healthcare system.
“What really took my interest in the healthcare side of artificial intelligence was the sheer amount of impact and the change that can be made,” he recently told Smithsonian magazine.
“Even one life detected is one life saved.”
He spent months gathering data from hospitals in the US and India, collaborating with medical professionals and patients to refine his app.
Clinical trials involved approximately 15,000 patients in the US and around 3,500 in India, with the app achieving over 96% accuracy in detecting heart abnormalities, according to Nandyala.
Currently, Circadian AI is intended only for clinical use by trained personnel, as it requires proper understanding to operate effectively.
Nandyala emphasized that the app is a pre-screening tool and not a replacement for traditional diagnostic methods like EKGs.
The teenager’s innovation has garnered attention from medical professionals, who praised the app’s potential to advance medical care, especially in areas with limited access to healthcare.
Cardiovascular disease, which includes heart attack and stroke, is the No. 1 killer worldwide, responsible for about 32% of global deaths.
“An early potential diagnosis in patients who otherwise may not have had access to medical care may ultimately reduce long-term morbidity and mortality from this condition,” Jameel Ahmed, an electrophysiologist at Louisiana State University, told Smithsonian mag.
This is not Nandyala’s first technological innovation.
He previously designed a low-cost prosthetic arm and founded STEM IT — a startup that creates science and technology kits for students.
His contributions have earned him a Certificate of Recognition from the US House of Representatives and a letter of congratulations from then-President Joe Biden.
At only 14, he is already a freshman studying computer science at the University of Texas.
In the future, he would like to to expand the app’s capabilities to detect lung-related illnesses like pneumonia and pulmonary embolism using similar sound analysis techniques.
“I want to create a legacy where inventors and innovators can push the boundaries and go beyond their comfort zone, actually changing the world for the better,” Nandyala told Frisco Style when he was 13.
And so he is.
