Smart AI stethoscopes spot heart disease

How could this tech help healthcare teams make faster diagnoses?

Spotted: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide, with many overburdened and understaffed health systems struggling to identify and manage CVDs effectively. Technology is helping ease those burdens in some ways, and a smart stethoscope is just one of the innovations providing assistance.

US-based digital health company Eko Health has transformed the analogue stethoscope into a smart device that helps physicians gather more data and make earlier diagnoses of heart and lung diseases. Along with the digital stethoscope, the company provides an early disease detection platform that connects healthcare workers with each other, with patients and with research organisations.

The stethoscopes come with noise-cancelling and amplification technologies that provide better sound for teams working in noisy emergency situations, and the SENSORA platform brings together exam data with smart AI-powered analysis for faster, earlier detection. This murmur detection software works from a database of more than one million unique heart sounds to help identify the type and seriousness of a heart murmur. The left ventricular ejection fraction platform has been clinically validated through analysis of more than 16,000 patients across 80 global locations.

The Eko app then allows clinicians to record and share patient data with other members of the healthcare team in real time. Patients can also use the platform for virtual consultations, and the AI-supported tools help clinicians make better assessments of the patient’s condition from afar.

Eko’s technology has been approved by the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and, having recently raised $41 million in series D funding, the company plans to expand further across the US and internationally.

Written By: Keely Khoury