The European Research Council (ERC) announced the winners of the “ERC Proof of Concept 2025” call for proposals on Tuesday, January 27. Aurélien Bustin, junior professor at the University of Bordeaux, researcher at IHU Liryc, at the Bordeaux Cardiothoracic Research Center (University of Bordeaux/Inserm) and collaborator in the cardiac and thoracic imaging department at Haut-Lévêque Hospital – Bordeaux University Hospital, has received €150,000 in funding for his HEARTERIX project. He aims to develop a software solution capable of automating diagnosis using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.
Cardiovascular disease: a public health issue
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Europe, with more than 1.8 million deaths per year. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the gold standard for non-invasive diagnosis, but it remains a lengthy and complex procedure. A standard examination lasts between 40 and 60 minutes and requires more than 400 manual manipulations to acquire the images, which then take 20 to 30 minutes to interpret. These constraints result in waiting times of several months, preventing early diagnosis and delaying patient care.
HEARTERIX: towards instant analysis of cardiac MRI
The HEARTERIX project is based on the patented SPOT-MAPPING innovation, developed by Professor Aurélien Bustin and his team as part of the SMHEART project (winner of an ERC Starting Grant in 2022), which allows simultaneous acquisition of images of cardiac anatomy, scars, and myocardial oedema.
The HEARTERIX software will incorporate artificial intelligence algorithms to automate the analysis of this data with three main objectives: to automatically segment cardiac structures, quantify scar load, edema, and microvascular obstruction, and generate a complete diagnostic report in less than 10 seconds, compared to 17 minutes for a human expert.
The project includes an 18-month prospective clinical validation to ensure the reliability of the software for direct integration into the machines of major manufacturers. It will involve 150 patients and will be deployed at three leading hospitals: Bordeaux University Hospital (Prof. Hubert Cochet), Hospices Civils de Lyon (Prof. Salim Si-Mohamed), and Toulouse University Hospital (Prof. Damien Mandry).
On a societal level, the project aims to deliver tangible benefits for patients:
- Reducing waiting lists: by halving the overall time required for the examination and its analysis.
- The democratization of expertise: enabling non-specialist hospitals to perform high-precision diagnostics.
- Precision medicine: offering early detection and improving patient selection for major treatments, such as defibrillator implantation.
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