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A team at Imperial College London says an AI stethoscope can detect heart failure valve disease and abnormal heart rhythms in just seconds. The device combines heart sound analysis with a brief ECG and uses cloud based AI to flag likely problems for doctors to investigate.
The unit looks about the size of a playing card. It records chest sounds with a microphone and captures electrical heart signals with a built in ECG. The data are uploaded and analysed by an algorithm trained on tens of thousands of patient records. Results return to the clinician within moments to guide next steps.
Researchers tested the tool in a real world trial across more than two hundred GP surgeries in west and north west London. Over twelve thousand patients examined with the AI stethoscope were compared with patients seen in practices that did not use the device. People checked with the AI tool were more than twice as likely to receive a heart failure diagnosis within a year and were far more likely to have atrial fibrillation and valve disease detected.
Clinicians and funders say earlier detection can speed treatment and prevent emergency admissions. Senior cardiology figures praised the upgrade of a basic clinical tool and said wider use in primary care could change diagnostic timelines for serious cardiac conditions. The trial results were presented at a major cardiology congress in Madrid.
Practical issues are also observed in the study. A number of practices decreased device usage with time, demonstrating that training workflow modifications and having clear referral routes are vital to embedding new tools in day-to-day activities. The developers and health services will roll out more and track the false positives and integration requirements.
AI Stethoscope technology should be considered as a primary care tool by health systems that need to diagnose cardiac cases faster. The broader acceptance will be tied to cost training and demonstrated utility at scale. The study heralds a definite shift towards advanced diagnostics on the frontline of medicine.
