Dutch technology giant Philips is bringing AI into the procedure room to help doctors repair heart valves.

The innovation uses AI to track and visualise tiny repair devices through the beating heart, helping clinicians navigate in 3D with enhanced clarity and confidence.

Called DeviceGuide, the AI-powered device tracking method assists physicians during one of interventional cardiology’s most technically demanding procedures: repairing leaking heart valves through a minimally invasive approach.

Built on Philips’ EchoNavigator platform (www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/product/HCOPT08/echonavigator), this software brings AI directly into the procedure room, translating complex imaging into intuitive, real-time visual guidance that helps clinicians navigate the beating heart with greater clarity and confidence.

It was previewed earlier this month at London Valves 2025, one of the leading meetings for structural heart specialists.

“With DeviceGuide, we’re bringing AI into the heart of the procedure room, and into the heart itself,” said Atul Gupta, chief medical officer at Philips. “This is Philips’ first AI assisting physicians in real time to visualise and guide heart valve treatment devices as they navigate the beating heart. It’s helping doctors in the moment as they are helping their patients with structural heart disease.”

A leaking heart valve, known as mitral valve regurgitation, is a condition in which blood leaks backwards through the heart’s mitral valve. It affects more than 35 million adults worldwide, leaving many short of breath, fatigued and struggling with everyday activities such as climbing stairs or walking short distances. Many also live with anxiety or fear, knowing their heart isn’t pumping efficiently. If left untreated, severe cases can lead to heart failure and other serious complications.

For patients who are too frail for open-heart surgery, minimally invasive transcatheter repair techniques such as mitral transcatheter edge-to-edge repair offer a vital treatment option. During these procedures, physicians repair a leaking valve through a tiny incision in the top of the leg in the groin area, guiding long, flexible instruments through the blood veins and navigating a miniature repair device into the beating heart.

Clinicians must view and interpret both x-ray and ultrasound images on multiple screens, coordinate movements between two operators, and make precise adjustments to grasp the moving valve leaflets, position the repair device, and confirm the result in real time. The process demands accuracy, coordination and experience from the team. This is where DeviceGuide can help with its 3D navigation support.

DeviceGuide uses an AI algorithm to track the tiny repair device automatically as it moves through the beating heart, intelligently combining live echo and x-ray images. It creates a virtual 3D model of the treatment device in real time, superimposed on the live images of the beating heart. This allows clinicians to see where the device is and in which direction it is pointing, providing a clear view of the procedure and potentially enabling them to navigate the device more easily to seal the leak effectively.

“The AI software serves as an assistive tool, with the physician always remaining in control,” said Gupta. “This isn’t about replacing expertise, it’s about amplifying it. By embedding AI into the procedure, DeviceGuide gives physicians an extra pair of eyes, effectively bionic vision, helping them treat more patients safely and confidently.”

This innovation was developed in collaboration with Edwards Lifesciences (www.edwards.com), a California-based manufacturer of these repair devices. It combines Philips’ expertise in medical imaging and AI technologies with Edwards’ structural heart innovation.

“DeviceGuide demonstrates the impact of combining leading imaging and therapy expertise to develop solutions designed around the procedural workflow, a model that will shape the future of AI-enabled image-guided structural interventions,” said Mark Stoffels from Philips (www.philips.com).

To see how DeviceGuide works, read www.philips.com/c-dam/corporate/newscenter/global/standard/resources/healthcare/2025/deviceguide/Philips-DeviceGuide-backgrounder.pdf.