Areesha Iqbal

AI support system for detecting cardiovascular disease approved by FDA

A UK based company, Ultromics, specialized in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) has received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its AI-powered decision support system designed for the early detection of cardiovascular disease. They applied AI to echocardiography (an ultrasound of the heart) and developed an image analysis system called EchoGo Core which helps to identify cardiovascular disease in patients at an early stage. This is achieved by applying AI to the analysis and quantification of the ultrasound-based heart scans. Traditionally, echocardiography has relied on the expert eye of clinicians, with years of experience, measuring the anatomical structures and identifying the disease, a potentially time-consuming and highly variable process. However, by automating the process with AI analysis to look in greater detail at the scans, EchoGo enables clinicians to interpret echocardiograms efficiently and accurately and assist in their decision making. EchoGo uses AI to calculate left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), the most frequently used measurement of heart function, left ventricular volumes (LV). It is also the first AI application to measure cardiac strain. According to the firm, the pipeline of AI algorithms underpinning EchoGo was built using thousands of images from a carefully curated dataset, from one of the largest echo studies of its kind. The company says that its goal is to improve patient outcomes through earlier detection of cardiac disease.