Preventive treatment for potential cardiac problems is incredibly common in the U.S., particularly among older patients. But the tools to assess an individual patient's risk of a major cardiac event have their limitations. Coronary computed tomography arteriography (CCTA) scans are a means of assessing heart health, but their use is typically restricted to patients with specific suspected indications.

A fast response with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for cardiac arrest victims can save their lives, but older adults often are alone in their home or a bedroom when symptoms strike. Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have developed a machine learning-based system that listens to ambient audio via dedicated smart speakers or smartphones for agonal breathing, the distinctive sound that a person in cardiac arrest makes.

There is wide variability of individual responses to a specific prescription drug. That can have some genetic basis inherent to a particular individual, but the microbiome also has been suspected to play a part.

Diagnosing serious infections in the hospital is often a process of elimination. A series of tests for individual suspected pathogens are used one at a time, sometimes while treatment is already in progress without a definitive diagnosis. But the cause of roughly half of serious infections, such as meningitis, encephalitis, pneumonia and sepsis, remain undiagnosed via such a process.