European Society of Cardiology Launches EU-Funded Network to Validate AI for Heart Care

A new EU-funded network is setting out to turn cardiovascular AI into tools hospitals can safely use—not presenting evidence that it has already done so. The European Cardiovascular Health Data and AI Network, or CHAIN, has launched under the European Society of Cardiology, with three years of work planned on testing, validation and deployment.

Funded through the EU4Health Program, the project brings together 53 partners from 20 European countries. Universities, research centers, hospitals, clinical networks, technology companies, national health ministries and patient organizations are participating. The society describes fragmented adoption and a lack of standardized validation mechanisms as barriers to using health data and AI in cardiovascular care.

Connecting the places where evidence is gathered

CHAIN aims to build a federated ecosystem: a connected network of hospitals, health data hubs and disease registries. The plan is to securely link those institutions so AI solutions can be tested, validated and deployed at scale. It is intended to align with the European Health Data Space.

The project builds on the society’s EuroHeart registry network, which already covers 18 member countries. EuroHeart uses standardized data on cardiovascular care and outcomes, with tools for monitoring results and comparing practices. That gives CHAIN an existing registry framework to build on, rather than requiring it to start its data infrastructure from scratch.

The question is no longer simply what AI can do. The question is how we make it work safely and effectively for patients and health professionals in everyday healthcare. This is where CHAIN can make a real difference.

Olivér Várhelyi, EU Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare

An AI passport tied to clinical suitability

Validated tools are to be made available through a European repository. They will be supported by AI Passports documenting performance, safety and suitability for clinical use. The intended audience includes hospitals, healthcare authorities and professionals who need evidence about which solutions work, for whom and in which clinical settings.

The launch comes as the European Health Data Space, the AI Act and evolving rules for medical products reshape healthcare AI development and deployment. CHAIN’s remit includes implementation, evaluation, governance and scaling up. Its scientific coordinator, Professor Folkert Asselbergs, says medical societies should provide a framework for trusted solutions that add value beyond existing options.

Six use cases will put the approach into practice

The project plans six real-world use cases across 13 countries. They span prevention, early detection, clinical decision support—tools that help clinicians make care decisions—and management of complex cardiovascular conditions. These implementations are intended to demonstrate the network’s approach in practice, across several stages of care rather than one diagnostic task.

Asselbergs says the team hopes to produce a strategic roadmap for scaling AI adoption in cardiology across Europe over the next three years. He expects the infrastructure and standards to benefit research and industry, while validated decision-support tools could ease pressure on healthcare systems. Those are the project’s intended benefits, not demonstrated patient outcomes.