The imaging tech will first be used to diagnose patients with aortic stenosis, where the heart's aortic valve narrows and constricts blood flow. Watson will combine heart imagery with medical records to spot patients who might need follow-up treatments. The approach will eventually expand to cover heart attacks, heart muscle disease, deep vein thrombosis and valve disorders.

IBM won't make the solution widely available to health care facilities until later in the year, but it's hoping that the impact will be worth the wait. In a chat with Mashable, the company's Anne Le Grand says that Watson promises to improve both the quality and consistency of diagnoses. Both patients and doctors won't have to worry so much about issues going unaddressed until they become urgent.