ARTIFICIAL intelligence developed at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital to help diagnose heart disease could be rolled out nationally.

Doctors at the JR say their revolutionary system could save the NHS billions by helping detect heart disease and lung cancer earlier.

It is understood the heart disease technology could be made available at NHS hospitals for free as soon as this summer.

Geneticist Sir John Bell said AI had the potential to 'save the NHS', adding: "There is about £2.2bn spent on pathology services in the NHS. You may be able to reduce that by 50 per cent."

Currently, heart doctors diagnose problems by monitoring the timing of the heartbeat in scans.

However this method is not always accurate, with one in five patients either suffering a heart attack or undergoing an unnecessary operation.

The AI system developed at the John Radcliffe is said to diagnose heart problems much more accurately by picking up details doctors cannot see.

The technology has been tested in clinical trials in six cardiology units, with the results due to be published this year.

Prof Paul Leeson, the cardiologist who developed the system, said data indicates that it had greatly outperformed his fellow heart specialists.

The AI which he called Ultromics was trained to identify potential problems in the scans of 1,000 patients treated over the past seven years, along with information about whether they went on to have heart problems.

He told the Telegraph: "As cardiologists, we accept that we don't always get it right at the moment, but now there is a possibility that way may be able to do better."

If confirmed, it is thought Ultromics will be available for free to NHS hospitals across the UK.