AI models developed at WVU to aid heart failure diagnosis in rural Appalachia

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — Computer scientists at West Virginia University have developed several AI models to identify signs of heart failure in patients from Appalachia, addressing concerns that existing models, trained on data from urban populations, may not be effective for rural communities.

Prashnna Gyawali, an assistant professor in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, said heart failure is a critical health issue that disproportionately affects rural regions of the U.S.

Gyawali noted that AI models used for diagnosing the disease are typically trained on data from patients in urban and suburban areas, such as Stanford, California. He described a hypothetical patient, Jane