Innovative At-Home Foot Recognition AI Device Aims to Reduce Heart Failure Hospitalizations

A novel home-based device utilizing advanced 'foot-recognition' AI technology has demonstrated potential to monitor and predict worsening heart failure, thereby helping to prevent hospital admissions. Presented at the British Cardiovascular Society conference in Manchester on June 8, 2025, this innovation could revolutionize patient care for over a million individuals in the UK living with heart failure.

The device, roughly the size of a smart speaker and installed beside a person's bed, continuously scans the feet and lower legs, detecting signs of edema—fluid retention that signals worsening heart failure. It operates automatically, capturing images from multiple angles every minute without requiring active input from the user. If the system detects increasing fluid buildup, it triggers an alert to healthcare providers, enabling preemptive intervention, often up to 13 days before hospitalization might be necessary.

Supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the research involved 26 patients across five NHS trusts participating in the FOOT study. Participants were also instructed to monitor their weight regularly, but the AI scanner proved more effective in predicting hospitalizations, accurately foreseeing five out of six events, whereas traditional weight monitoring failed to predict these cases.

The technology images the feet and lower leg from toes to just below the knee, ensuring privacy and functionality even without Wi-Fi, as it is solely powered via mains connection. This approach aims to address the challenges faced by the current healthcare system, including nurse shortages, by functioning as a 'virtual nurse' that continuously monitors at-risk patients.

Heart failure patients often experience symptoms like breathlessness, weight gain, and edema—key warning signs indicating that the heart's ability to pump blood effectively is impaired. Early detection of these signs is critical, as hospitalizations for acute heart failure typically last around ten days and carry significant health risks.

The study revealed that the scanner is particularly adept at predicting hospitalizations, outperforming traditional daily weight checks, which only predicted one of the six hospitalizations in the trial. Following the promising results, researchers plan larger-scale testing, including in residential care settings, to validate and expand the technology's application.

According to Professor Bryan Williams of the British Heart Foundation, which was not involved in the research, this device could significantly improve health outcomes by enabling earlier interventions, ultimately reducing hospital admissions and saving lives. As heart failure management becomes increasingly reliant on technology, innovations like this could offer invaluable support for patients managing their condition at home.