Artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to identify patients at risk of heart failure, meaning they could be treated earlier, Leeds-based researchers have said.

An algorithm, known as Find-HF, has been "trained" by the Leeds University researchers to detect early symptoms of the condition using patient records.

According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), there are currently more than one million people in the UK with heart failure.

Prof Chris Gale, from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Leeds, said the tech would open a "crucial window of opportunity" for patients.

For the study, which was funded by the BHF, researchers used the patient records of 565,284 UK adults to train the AI algorithm,

It was then further tested on a database of 106,026 records from Taiwan National University Hospital.

The AI was able to accurately predict the patients at the highest risk of developing heart failure, and those who could be admitted to hospital with the condition, within five years, the researchers said.