Eko’s AI stethoscope: A promising upgrade for early heart disease detection
Eko Health, a company founded in 2013, is updating the basic stethoscope with AI technology, aiming to help doctors detect heart and lung diseases earlier and more accurately.
According to TechCrunch, Eko Health has sold its advanced stethoscope to over 500,000 healthcare providers. The device has been used on millions of patients, allowing Eko to collect a large amount of chest sound and ECG data. This data then helped them create algorithms to identify heart problems.
"The stethoscope exam is incredibly inconsistent and inaccurate. Patients get late diagnoses, or they get misdiagnosed. We want to bring precision using AI that could enable patients to get earlier, more competent diagnoses," TechCrunch quoted Connor Landgraf, the CEO and founder of Eko Health, as saying.
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With a regular stethoscope, doctors could miss subtle signs of disease. Eko's AI-enhanced device combines heart sounds with cardiac rhythm assessments, making it easier for primary care doctors and nurses to detect issues, similar to how a cardiologist would.
A study by Massachusetts General Hospital showed that Eko's AI identified more heart disease cases than primary care doctors.
Eko's success in clinical trials helped them raise $41 million in a Series D funding round. Investors include Artis Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, NTTVC, and Questa Capital which brings Eko's total funding to $165 million.
Some other companies using AI to detect heart conditions include Ultromics and CardioSignal. However, Eko Health is the only one integrating AI into a stethoscope.
