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HeartFlow’s Groundbreaking AI Innovations Revolutionize Cardiovascular Disease Diagnosis on Nasdaq

HeartFlow's Groundbreaking AI Innovations Revolutionize Cardiovascular Disease Diagnosis on Nasdaq

HeartFlow’s AI-Powered Medical Technology Debuts on Nasdaq, Pioneering a New Era in Cardiovascular Care

By Suzy Richards | August 13, 2025

HeartFlow, a trailblazing medical technology company co-founded by NSF-funded researcher Charles Taylor of The University of Texas at Austin, has made its public debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The company offers groundbreaking AI-driven solutions for diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD), a leading cause of death worldwide.

Revolutionizing Heart Disease Diagnosis Through AI and Computational Medicine

Coronary artery disease remains the most common type of heart disease in the United States, responsible for immense healthcare costs and tragic loss of life. CAD is characterized by the buildup of plaque in coronary arteries, which impedes blood flow to the heart muscle. The disease silently affects millions—an estimated 18 million U.S. adults and 315 million people globally live with CAD, many without obvious symptoms. CAD causes a heart attack roughly every 40 seconds in the U.S. alone and accounts for one in every five deaths.

HeartFlow is transforming this critical health challenge by leveraging recent advancements in artificial intelligence and computational medicine—an interdisciplinary field combining AI with medical imaging to simulate cardiovascular function and identify disease.

From NSF Funding to Industry Leader

The journey of HeartFlow began in the early 2000s when Charles Taylor and his team, supported by a $3.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering, developed computational methods to simulate blood flow using medical imaging data. This five-year project laid the foundation for creating patient-specific digital models of the heart to detect and assess coronary artery disease.

Building on this pioneering research—conducted alongside collaborators at Stanford University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and The University of Texas at Austin—Taylor co-founded Cardiovascular Simulation, which was renamed HeartFlow in 2010. HeartFlow’s flagship product, the Fractional Flow Reserve derived from Computed Tomography (FFRCT) analysis, was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and launched commercially in 2014. This noninvasive test uses standard coronary CT angiography images to generate a 3D “digital twin” of a patient’s heart and simulate blood flow through coronary arteries to identify pressure differences indicating potential blockages. This innovation helps physicians assess disease severity without the need for invasive procedures.

Continuous Innovation and NSF Partnership

In 2018, the company upgraded its technology with a cloud-based infrastructure, enabling faster and more secure data sharing with clinicians worldwide. By aggregating this global dataset, HeartFlow enhanced its AI and machine learning algorithms to improve diagnostic accuracy continuously.

HeartFlow’s groundbreaking advancements have garnered widespread recognition. In 2019, the company was named one of Fast Company’s “The World’s Most Innovative Companies.” The same year, NSF’s Partnerships for Innovation Program awarded a grant to collaborators at The University of Texas at Austin and HeartFlow to develop new tools for noninvasively detecting vulnerable plaques—lipid-rich accumulations in artery walls that are prone to rupture and cause the majority of heart attacks.

Introducing an Integrated AI Platform for Comprehensive Cardiovascular Assessment

In 2021, HeartFlow launched the third generation of its FFRCT technology, alongside two additional AI-powered products: Plaque Analysis and Roadmap Analysis. These FDA-approved tools collectively form an integrated platform that delivers a comprehensive evaluation of coronary artery disease:

  • Roadmap Analysis: Visualizes and quantifies anatomical narrowings (stenoses) in coronary arteries based on CT angiograms.
  • FFRCT Analysis: Assesses the physiological impact of these narrowings on blood flow through personalized 3D simulations.
  • Plaque Analysis: Provides detailed information on the type and volume of coronary plaque present.

This combined approach offers clinicians advanced AI-powered risk scoring, enabling earlier and more accurate identification of patients at risk of heart attack—including those without clear symptoms—based on a single CT scan.

Leading the Future of Cardiovascular Care

Today, HeartFlow stands as a leader in digital health innovation, serving over 1,500 hospitals in the U.S. and diagnosing heart disease in over 400,000 patients. The company’s influence continues to grow, as evidenced by its recognition among Fast Company’s Most Innovative Medical Device Companies for 2025 and winning the Innovation in Cardiac Imaging award at the 2025 Global Cardiovascular Awards.

Charles Taylor’s contributions to predictive, simulation-based medicine were further honored with his election to the National Academy of Engineering’s class of 2024. Reflecting on the impact of NSF’s early support, Taylor stated, “This funding enabled me, my collaborators, and my students to solve several of the most important scientific problems needed to model blood flow in patient-specific cardiovascular systems. It was instrumental not only in launching HeartFlow but also in shaping the careers of all involved.”

A Continuing Mission to Save Lives

HeartFlow’s journey from NSF-funded research to Nasdaq debut illustrates the transformative power of combining scientific innovation with entrepreneurial drive. Through its AI-powered medical technologies, HeartFlow is redefining how cardiovascular disease is diagnosed and managed, ultimately aiming to reduce the burden of heart disease worldwide and improve patient outcomes.

For more information, visit HeartFlow’s official website and follow updates from the National Science Foundation.

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