A small Israeli startup may have just cracked one of medicine’s biggest unsolved problems. Two of Israel’s most respected hospitals are now joining a global clinical trial to test an AI system that can flag coronary artery disease risk in less time than it takes to make a cup of coffee.
How AccuLine’s CORA System Works
AccuLine, a medical technology startup based in Petah Tikva, Israel, developed CORA, which stands for Coronary Artery Risk Assessment. Founded in 2022, the company built this system with one clear goal: give family doctors a fast, accurate, and genuinely accessible tool to catch heart disease before it turns deadly.
CORA simultaneously measures three core biological signals. It captures the heart’s electrical activity through an electrocardiogram, tracks blood oxygen saturation, and monitors the patient’s respiratory rate. An AI algorithm then processes this data alongside the patient’s medical history, known risk factors, and reported symptoms.
The result is a coronary artery disease risk score delivered in just four minutes, without a single injection, without radiation, and without physical exertion.
That last part matters enormously. Standard stress tests require patients to exercise on a treadmill, which is not always safe or practical, especially for older or physically limited individuals. More definitive options like coronary CT angiography and invasive angiography involve radiation, contrast dyes, and hospital settings, often leading to long wait times and steep costs for patients and health systems alike.
AccuLine’s approach is built on something deeper. The company discovered two novel bio-signals in the heart’s electrical activity that correlate directly with coronary artery disease, and this patented discovery forms the scientific backbone of CORA’s accuracy.
The Trial Results That Are Hard to Ignore
Before entering the international stage, AccuLine tested CORA across seven medical centers in Israel with 305 patients. All results were benchmarked against coronary angiography, widely considered the gold standard for diagnosing coronary artery disease.
The numbers were striking.
| Feature | CORA (AI System) | Standard Stress Test | Coronary Angiography |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | 4 minutes | 30 to 60 minutes | 1 to 3 hours |
| Sensitivity | 94% | Lower, varies widely | Gold standard |
| Negative Predictive Value | 99% | Not comparable | Gold standard |
| Radiation Exposure | None | None | Yes |
| Invasive Procedure | No | No | Yes |
| Suitable for Clinic Setting | Yes | Partially | No |
A 99% negative predictive value is a figure that grabs any cardiologist’s attention immediately. It means that when CORA says a patient is not at risk, doctors can trust that conclusion with very high confidence.
This level of accuracy at the community level could prevent enormous numbers of unnecessary specialist referrals and invasive follow-up procedures each year. AccuLine confirmed that the Israeli trial results represent a clear step forward compared to the stress tests commonly used in primary care today.
As CEO and co-founder Moshe Barel put it, “This four-minute assessment can effectively risk-stratify patients in a community setting, allowing for more efficient clinical decision-making.”
Why Israel’s Top Hospitals Are Joining In
Sheba Medical Center and Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center-Ichilov have both formally joined the new international trial. The study will enroll approximately 2,000 patients at around 20 medical centers, with the majority of sites located in the United States.
Professor Israel “Issi” Barbash, director of the Interventional Cardiology Unit at Sheba, said early diagnosis is critical and that AI-based tools could help doctors make faster, more accurate decisions. “The ability to identify high-risk patients through simple, accessible means within minutes has the potential to transform how we screen for coronary heart disease,” he said.
Professor Yaron Arbel, senior interventional cardiologist and director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at Ichilov, said the study will help fully assess the clinical potential of AccuLine’s technology and its role in diagnosing patients with suspected coronary heart disease.
Having Sheba and Ichilov on board is not a small detail. Sheba is consistently ranked among the top hospitals worldwide and stands as one of the Middle East’s primary hubs for international clinical research. Ichilov performs over 500 new clinical trials every year and is closely tied to Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Medicine, giving the trial deep scientific credibility from the start.
The FDA Race and the Global Stakes
This trial is not just a scientific exercise. It is the centerpiece of AccuLine’s formal strategy to earn FDA 510(k) clearance in the United States.
The company already completed its pre-submission package with the FDA in December 2025. The upcoming 2,000-patient study is designed to validate CORA against gold-standard diagnostic methods in real-world clinical settings. Timothy D. Henry, MD, Medical Director of the Center for Research and Education at the Christ Hospital Health Network, will serve as the trial’s Principal Investigator.
AccuLine is not going it alone. The company signed a know-how license agreement with the Mayo Clinic, which has also become a shareholder in AccuLine, making the partnership both scientific and financial. That collaboration has been central to adapting CORA for the US market and aligning the trial design with FDA requirements.
The company has raised approximately $5.5 million in total funding to date, backed by eHealth Ventures, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Mayo Clinic, the Israel Innovation Authority, and Google.
The global context behind all of this is staggering.
- Cardiovascular diseases account for 32% of all deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization
- An estimated 20 million people died from cardiovascular causes in 2022
- 85% of those deaths were caused by heart attacks
- Coronary artery disease is the single biggest trigger of heart attacks globally
- Cardiology generates hundreds of billions of dollars in annual healthcare spending worldwide
A tool that reduces unnecessary diagnostic procedures and cuts down on costly post-heart-attack rehabilitation could reshape that economic reality while saving countless lives. AccuLine CEO Moshe Barel has said the technology could eventually help community physicians identify at-risk patients quickly and safely, while reducing unnecessary invasive procedures and controlling healthcare costs.
That dual benefit, saving lives while easing the financial pressure on overstretched health systems, is exactly what the world needs from medical innovation right now.
A four-year-old startup with $5.5 million in funding, two newly discovered heart bio-signals, and now two of Israel’s finest hospitals standing beside it is quietly building something the world has badly needed for a very long time. If the international trial confirms what the Israeli data already shows, the next heart attack prevention tool could sit not in a hospital, but in your neighborhood clinic. Every second matters when it comes to your heart, and if four minutes and a small device can catch what was once missed for years, the ripple effect on millions of families around the world could be profound. Drop your thoughts in the comments below and let us know: would you take a four-minute AI heart screening if your doctor offered it today?
