McLaren Health Care Partners with Bunkerhill Health for AI-Powered Cardiovascular Screening
•February 17, 2026
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Why It Matters
The program turns unused imaging data into early heart‑disease alerts, enabling preventive interventions and potentially reducing costly cardiac events. It demonstrates how AI can expand diagnostic value while lowering patient burden.
Key Takeaways
- •AI detects incidental coronary calcium on routine chest CTs
- •Program adds aortic valve calcium screening without extra imaging
- •Only five U.S. health systems use AI for iAVC detection
- •Early detection prompts preventive cardiology referrals and treatment
- •Leverages existing scans, cutting costs and radiation exposure
Pulse Analysis
Incidental findings on chest CTs have long been an underutilized resource in cardiovascular care. Radiologists traditionally focus on pulmonary pathology, leaving calcium deposits in coronary arteries and aortic valves unnoticed. Advances in deep‑learning algorithms now enable automated quantification of these biomarkers, turning every routine scan into a potential heart‑health assessment. This shift aligns with broader industry trends where artificial intelligence augments diagnostic workflows, improving sensitivity while preserving radiologist efficiency.
McLaren Health Care’s collaboration with Bunkerhill Health leverages the Carebricks platform to embed AI analysis directly into the imaging pipeline. The system flags incidental coronary artery calcium (iCAC) and incidental aortic valve calcium (iAVC) on scans originally ordered for lung cancer screening or infection. As one of only five U.S. health systems using AI for iAVC detection, McLaren positions itself at the forefront of preventive cardiology. The partnership also illustrates how health networks can adopt third‑party AI solutions without extensive in‑house development, accelerating time‑to‑value and expanding clinical reach.
The broader impact extends beyond early detection. By repurposing existing imaging, the program reduces the need for additional cardiac CTs, lowering radiation exposure and procedural costs. Patients identified with elevated calcium scores can be fast‑tracked to cardiology, potentially averting heart attacks or valve disease progression. As payers increasingly reward value‑based outcomes, AI‑driven screening models like McLaren’s offer a scalable blueprint for other health systems seeking to integrate data‑driven, preventive care into routine practice.
McLaren Health Care Partners with Bunkerhill Health for AI-Powered Cardiovascular Screening
What You Should Know
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The Launch: McLaren Health Care has launched a first-of-its-kind cardiovascular screening program in Michigan, partnering with Bunkerhill Health.
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The Tech: The program uses the Carebricks platform to analyze existing routine chest CT scans (originally taken for lung cancer or infection) to detect “incidental” signs of heart disease that human radiologists might not prioritize.
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The Innovation: McLaren is the first system in Michigan—and one of only five in the nation—to deploy AI specifically for aortic valve calcium (iAVC) detection on routine scans, effectively screening patients for heart disease without ordering a new test.
AI-Powered Cardiovascular Screening
Every year, millions of Americans get chest CT scans for reasons unrelated to their heart—a persistent cough, a lung cancer screening, or a suspected infection. Radiologists look at the lungs, report on the infection, and move on. But lurking in the background of those images is often a silent killer: calcium deposits in the heart arteries. McLaren Health Care is no longer letting that data go to waste.
The program targets two specific biomarkers:
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Incidental Coronary Artery Calcium (iCAC): A predictor of heart attacks.
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Incidental Aortic Valve Calcium (iAVC): A sign of aortic stenosis, a condition where the heart valve narrows.
McLaren is the first health system in Michigan to deploy AI for aortic valve calcium detection on routine scans. Previously, spotting these issues required a specialized cardiac CT, which doctors rarely order for asymptomatic patients. Now, the screening happens in the background. If a patient gets a CT for pneumonia, Bunkerhill’s Carebricks platform analyzes the image for heart risks automatically.
“Launching this innovative, AI-powered cardiovascular screening program further reflects our commitment to preventive, data-driven care, especially at a time when heart disease remains the leading cause of death and a growing public health crisis,” said Dr. Samer Kazziha, Chief Medical Director of the McLaren Heart & Vascular Institute. “By using the clinical information already available to us, this program enables us to identify patients who may benefit from earlier follow-up, often before symptoms appear, and ensures they are connected to the right care at the right time — helping to close critical gaps in detection, improving those patients’ long-term outcomes and overall quality of life.”
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