A mobile app for optimizing STEMI care and use of AI to detect aortic valve calcification on routine noncontrast chest CT are among the innovations being discussed and presented at TCT 2026 and simultaneously published in JACC: Advances.

In a mobile app study, researchers assessed STEMI activations managed through the app vs. traditional workflow pathways within a multicenter health center. Overall results found that the app-managed STEMI activations were associated with shorter transfer-related time metrics and higher attainment of guideline-relevant time thresholds. For example, door-to-device time decreased from 92 minutes to 71 minutes across two interfacility pathways.

“These findings support the feasibility of implementing a standardized, role-based digital workflow across multiple STEMI transfer pathways,” said Annapoorna Subhash Kini, MBBS, FACC; George D. Dangas, MD, PhD, MACC, et al.

In an AI study, researchers screened 511 consecutive noncontrast, non–electrocardiographically gated chest CT examinations in adults aged ≥50 years, 440 of which ultimately underwent quantification by two blinded readers, to assess prevalence, burden and documentation of aortic valve calcification (AVC).

Results found manual quantification identified AVC in 172 of 440 scans and AI detected 169 of the 172 manually confirmed cases (98.3%). According to Ofir Koren, MD, FACC; Raj R. Makkar, MD, FACC, et al., “AVC was common but infrequently documented on routine chest CT.” They noted that AI detected most cases among evaluable scans and that “prospective studies should assess clinical pathways.”

Read all the simultaneously published research at the JACC Journals’ TCT 2026 Event Page. Visit ACC’s TCT 2026 Meeting Coverage to explore the late-breaking clinical trials and more.

Clinical Topics: Noninvasive Imaging, Stable Ischemic Heart Disease, Vascular Medicine, Computed Tomography, Nuclear Imaging, Chronic Angina

Keywords: Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics, TCT26, Aortic Valve, Mobile Applications, ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction, Tomography, X-Ray Computed, Innovation