Cardiovascular diseases are among the leading cause of death worldwide, with millions of patients unaware of their risk factors, often due to limited access to effective detection tools. India has seen a 12.5% increase in heart attack cases in 2022, according to National Crime Records Bureau data. Many of them can be saved by administering medication timely.
American health-tech firm Eko Health, in collaboration with Mayo Clinic, has launched a new, AI-powered stethoscope that can sense the heart’s reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF, which means the heart is not pumping enough blood) in 15 seconds flat. The device was recently approved by the US FDA. It has also been rolled out in several UK clinics where it correctly identified heart failure nine out of ten times.
Experts say this portable device can help improve detection of cardiovascular diseases like atrial fibrillation, heart murmurs as well as heart failure.
Since this stethoscope is small and portable, this technology can be used in urban and remote locations, and hopefully help address care in underserved areas. Mayo Clinic had used this stethoscope for a study on pregnant women in Nigeria, where the device detected twice as many cases of pregnancy-related heart failure than regular obstetric screening.
Closer home, Indian medtech startup Ai Health Highway India has come up with AiSteth which can identify heart complications in 2 minutes. Startup founder, CEO and ex-army doctor Satish Somayya Jeevannavar says the stethoscope has been used by frontline health workers to screen thousands across medical colleges and clinics in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Some of the experts are of the opinion that one must be thoroughly certain about the efficacy of these machines. But as a primary screening tool, an AI-enabled stethoscope could be useful.
There are millions with rheumatic or valvular heart disease, even children with congenital heart disease, but these segments are still grossly underdiagnosed in India. The device can help screen such patients early on. However, the biggest roadblock that such a device can encounter in India is the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC PNDT) Act, 1994, which prohibits the use of portable echo machines except for special circumstances.
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