AI helps to detect three heart conditions in 15 seconds

According to the results of a real-world trial announced at the annual Parliament of the European Society of Cardiology in Madrid, an AI-enabled stethoscope can help doctors pick up three cardiac conditions in just 15 seconds.

This paper is also published in the journal BMJ Open.

Invented in 1816, the stethoscope is an important part of the physician's toolkit and is used to hear sounds inside the body. However, AI stethoscopes can do much more, such as analyzing small differences in heartbeat and blood flow that cannot be detected by the human ear, or taking rapid ECG at the same time.

Researchers at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust have evidence that AI stethoscopes can increase detection of heart failure in the early stages of going to GP with symptoms.

A study that includes over 200 GP surgeries, with over 1.5 million patients, examined people with symptoms such as shortness of breath and fatigue.

Those tested using an AI stethoscope were twice as likely to be diagnosed with heart failure compared to similar patients who were not tested using the technique.

Patients examined with AI staining mirrors were approximately 3.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. This is an abnormal cardiac rhythm that can increase the risk of stroke. They were almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with heart valve disease. This is when one or more heart valves do not function properly.

Early diagnosis is essential for all three conditions and allows patients who need to identify potentially life-saving medications more quickly before they become dangerously creepy.

“Stethoscope design has not changed for 200 years until now,” said Dr. Patrick Becktiger, the National Heart and Lang Institute of Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

“So it's incredible to be able to use a smart stethoscope for a 15-second test, and AI can quickly provide test results to show whether someone has heart failure, atrial fibrillation, or heart valve disease.”

“This is an elegant example of how a humble stethoscope invented more than 200 years ago can be upgraded over the 21st century,” said Dr. Sonya Babu Narayan, clinical director and consultant cardiologist at the British Heart Foundation.

“This kind of innovation is needed and provides early detection of heart failure, as this condition is often diagnosed only when a patient attends the hospital as an emergency.

“Given previous diagnosis, people have access to the treatment they need to help them live longer.”

Heart failure – If the heart is not properly pumping blood around the body, it affects more than 1 million people in the UK. Over 70% of cases are diagnosed only after being elevated to the hospital.

However, half of these people previously had symptoms and contact with primary care healthcare professionals, representing potential opportunities to detect heart failure. A smart stethoscope can help with this previous detection.

The AI ​​stethoscope was tested in patients who showed one of three symptoms suggesting they were suffering from heart failure, including heart failure, fatigue, lower extremities, and/or feet swelling.

If it turns out to be high risk, they continued their diagnosis and confirmed with blood tests for a hormone called BNP.

The Stethoscope Project, one of the first large AI research programs to be performed in a UK GP surgery, saw 12,725 patients tested using the technology.

These patients were compared with patients from another 109 surgeries within 96 surgeries in northwest London, in areas where AI stethoscopes were not used.

People who were tested using AI stethoscopes were 2.33 times more likely to be diagnosed with heart failure in the next 12 months.

“Most people with heart failure are diagnosed only when they arrive with a serious illness in A&E,” said Dr. Mihir Kelshiker, another member of the research team at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

“This test shows that AI-enabled stethoscopes can change that. GPS provides a quick and easy tool to discover problems faster, allowing patients to get the right treatment faster.”

A device of the size of a player card is placed on the patient's chest, and takes an ECG record of electrical signals from the heart, and the microphone records the sound of blood flowing through the heart.

This information is sent securely to the cloud, a secure online data storage area, and is analyzed by AI algorithms. It is trained on health data for tens of thousands of people and can detect subtle heart problems that humans miss.

Test results that show whether a patient is flagged as at risk of heart failure are sent straight back to the smartphone.

Another algorithm can detect atrial fibrillation, which is often symptoms free and contributes to one in each of the five brains in the UK, but can be managed with blood thinner medications.

People who were tested using AI stethoscopes are 3.45 times more likely to be diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and 1.92 times more likely to be diagnosed with heart valve disease in the next 12 months.

However, 70% of GP surgeries that administered smart stethoscopes in the study either stopped using them or used them rarely 12 months later. Researchers are striving to integrate technology.

Existing routines in GPS are necessary to deploy technology more widely.

In this study, two-thirds of people identified as suspected of heart failure by an AI stethoscope showed that when they were actually given a blood test or a heart scan, they did not actually have it.

While that can lead to unnecessary anxiety and testing for some people, researchers point out that for other patients, using an AI stethoscope can detect signs of heart failure that they would otherwise have missed. Researchers emphasize that AI staining mirrors should be used in patients with symptoms where heart problems are suspected, rather than on a daily basis in healthy people.

“Our research shows that three cardiac conditions can be identified at once,” said Professor Nicholas Peters, a senior investigator at Imperial College London and a consultant cardiologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

“Importantly, this technology has already been made available to some patients and is widely used in GP surgeries.”

“This tool is a real game changer for patients and could bring innovation directly to GPS hands,” said Professor Mike Lewis, director of innovation at the NIHR Science Director.

“AI stethoscopes give local clinicians the ability to discover problems faster, diagnose patients in the community, and deal with some of the major killers in society.”