Doctors develop AI stethoscope that can detect major heart conditions in 15 seconds | Artificial intelligence (AI)

Doctors have successfully developed a stethoscope led by artificial intelligence which can detect three cardiac conditions in 15 seconds.

Invented in 1816, the traditional stethoscope – used to listen to sounds in the body – has been a vital part of the toolbox of each doctor for more than two centuries.

Now, a team has designed high -tech upgrade with AI capabilities that can diagnose heart failure, heart valve disease and almost instantly abnormal cardiac rhythms.

The new stethoscope developed by researchers from the Imperial College London and the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust can analyze tiny differences in heart rate and blood flows undetectable in the human ear and take a rapid ECG at the same time.

The details of the breakthrough, which could stimulate the early diagnosis of the three conditions, were presented to thousands of doctors from the annual congress of the European Cardiology Society in Madrid, the largest heart conference in the world.

Early diagnosis is vital for heart failure, heart valve disease and abnormal heart rhythms, allowing those who need vital drugs to be identified earlier, before becoming dangerously sick.

A study that tries the AI ​​stethoscope, involving around 12,000 patients from 200 GP surgeries in the United Kingdom, examined those with symptoms such as shortness of breath or fatigue.

People examined using the new tool were twice as likely to be diagnosed with heart failure, compared to similar patients who were not examined using technology.

The patients were three times more likely to be diagnosed with atrial fibrillation – an abnormal heart rate that can increase the risk of having a stroke. They were almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with a heart valve disease, this is where one or more heart valves do not work properly.

Dr. Patrik Bächtiger, from the National Heart and Lung Institute of the Imperial College of London and the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, “said:” The design of the stethoscope has been unchanged for 200 years – so far.

“It is therefore incredible that an intelligent stethoscope can be used for a 15 -second exam, then the AI ​​can quickly provide a test result indicating whether someone has heart failure, atrial fibrillation or a heart valve disease.”

The device, manufactured by the Californian company Eko Health, is the size of a playing card. It is placed on a patient’s chest to take an ECG recording of the electrical signals of their heart, while his microphone records the sound of the blood flowing in the heart.

This information is sent to the Cloud – a secure online data storage area – to be analyzed by AI algorithms which can detect subtle heart problems that a human would lack.

The test result, indicating whether the patient should be reported as a risk for one of the three conditions or not, is returned to a smartphone.

The breakthrough has an element of risk, with higher chances that people wrongly say that they can have one of the conditions when they do not. Researchers have stressed that the AI ​​stethoscope should be used for patients with symptoms of suspicious heart problems, not for routine controls in healthy people.

But it could also save lives and money by diagnosing people much earlier.

Dr. Mihir Kelshiker, also at Imperial College, said, “Most people with heart failure are only diagnosed when they arrive in seriously sick.

“This test shows that AI compatible stethoscopes could change this – giving GPS a simple and simple tool to identify problems earlier, so that patients can get the right treatment earlier.”

Dr. Sonya Babu-Narayan, clinical director of the British Heart Foundation, who financed by research alongside the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), said: “Given a previous diagnosis, people can access the treatment they need to help them live longer.”

Professor Mike Lewis, the scientific director of NIHR innovation, said: “This tool could be a real game game for patients, which brought innovation directly into the hands of GPS. The AI ​​stethoscope gives local clinicians the ability to identify problems earlier, to diagnose patients in the community and to contact some of the major killers of society. ”