Echocardiography Service Automatically Identifies Coronary Artery Disease

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 21 Jan 2021
An artificial intelligence (AI) powered, outcomes-driven, decision support tool improves the diagnostic accuracy of clinicians for coronary artery disease (CAD).

The Ultromics (Oxford, United Kingdom) EchoGo Pro is a fully automated solution for echocardiography and strain analysis. The cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform uses AI to power the diagnostic pathway, providing near-instant reports without any need for physical software on site. EchoGo Pro complements EchoGo Core, a software application that measures standard cardiac parameters, including ejection fraction (EF), global longitudinal dtrain (GLS), and left ventricular (LV) volume, and also analyzes echocardiogram (ECG) cardiac parameters.

Image: The EchoGo Pro clinical workflows for CAD analysis (Photo courtesy of Ultromics)

For Pro, the anonymized echocardiogram dataset is transferred and processed through the application’s workflow, and an auto-contouring algorithm places points around the LV that sufficiently capture the LV shape; these contours are then used for calculating geometric parameters. By automating ECG analysis as part of the cloud service, a complete accurate analysis can be delivered within minutes, and with zero variability, in a zero-click workflow, aiding identification of CAD. EchoGo Pro and EchoGo Core will be offered together in the EchoGo suite.

“Heart disease is the biggest killer globally, and this number is increasing daily. COVID-19 has placed an even greater pressure on cardiac care and looks likely to have lasting implications in terms of its impact on the heart,” said Ross Upton, MD, founder and CEO of Ultromics. “The healthcare industry needs to quickly pivot towards AI powered automation to reduce the time to diagnosis and improve patient care. We are making the EchoGo suite as complete and automated as possible to help clinicians rapidly assess disease and provide early, appropriate intervention.”

Cardiac ultrasound, or echocardiography, is a noninvasive diagnostic modality that can provide detailed hemodynamic information rapidly at the patient bedside. It was first adopted for diagnostic purposes in the 1960s as an inexpensive way to expedite diagnosis and management of imminently life-threatening cardiac disease, including pericardial tamponade, acute coronary syndrome (ACS), cardiomyopathy, pulmonary embolism (PE), and aortic dissection. Cardiac ultrasound can also differentiate shock states and guide resuscitative measures.

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