A joint UK-US research team is applying a pioneering artificial intelligence system to map for the first time how the COVID-19 virus attacks the heart with such deadly impact.

The coronavirus has been found to kill more than one in ten victims with heart disease and also to significantly weaken the hearts of other sufferers.

This week, British health-tech company Ultromics and Mayo Clinic in the US will use AI software, EchoGo Core, to analyze echocardiograms of COVID-19 victims, for clues about how the virus affects the human cardiovascular system.

Their findings will produce, for the first time, a map of the 'novel cardiac features' of COVID-19 and help physicians rapidly triage and treat high-risk patients, potentially saving countless lives.