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AI diagnosis of heart sounds differentiated with super StethoScope
Shimpei Ogawa1, Fuminori Namino1, Tomoyo Mori1
1AMI Inc., Kagoshima, Japan.
Insights
Super StethoScope enhances heart sound screening by capturing inaudible frequencies and ECG data, improving telemedicine for heart failure and valvular heart disease detection. This aims to overcome limitations of traditional auscultation.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Biomedical Engineering
- Digital Health
Background:
- Heart failure and valvular heart diseases pose significant global health challenges.
- Current screening methods like auscultation have limitations in skill variability, objectivity, and capturing all relevant heart sounds.
- There is a need for improved, objective, and comprehensive screening tools for cardiac conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce the Super StethoScope, a novel hardware device designed to overcome the limitations of traditional auscultation.
- To explore the application of remote auscultation using the Super StethoScope in telemedicine.
- To assess market needs and clinician expectations for advanced heart sound analysis tools.
Main Methods:
- Development of Super StethoScope hardware with simultaneous electrocardiographic (ECG) and heart sound collection.
- Optimization of signal-to-noise ratio and acquisition of heart sounds across audible and inaudible frequency ranges.
- Conducting an online survey of 3648 doctors regarding current auscultation practices and interest in AI-based systems.
Main Results:
- Super StethoScope captures heart sounds across a wider frequency range, including inaudible sounds, and integrates ECG for heart rate variability analysis.
- The device provides quantitative results through data visualization, mitigating issues with remote auscultation sound quality.
- Survey results indicate auscultation remains a primary method, with strong interest in AI-driven heart sound analysis integration.
Conclusions:
- Super StethoScope offers a significant advancement in heart sound screening, addressing limitations of traditional methods.
- The device has strong potential for enhancing telemedicine applications in cardiology.
- It is poised to advance heart sound research and clinical practice, particularly with AI integration.
Abstract:
In the aging global society, heart failure and valvular heart diseases, including aortic stenosis, are affecting millions of people and healthcare systems worldwide. Although the number of effective treatment options has increased in recent years, the lack of effective screening methods is provoking continued high mortality and rehospitalization rates. Appropriately, auscultation has been the primary option for screening such patients, however, challenges arise due to the variability in auscultation skills, the objectivity of the clinical method, and the presence of sounds inaudible to the human ear. To address challenges associated with the current approach towards auscultation, the hardware of Super StethoScope was developed. This paper is composed of (1) a background literature review of bioacoustic research regarding heart disease detection, (2) an introduction of our approach to heart sound research and development of Super StethoScope, (3) a discussion of the application of remote auscultation to telemedicine, and (4) results of a market needs survey on traditional and remote auscultation. Heart sounds and murmurs, if collected properly, have been shown to closely represent heart disease characteristics. Correspondingly, the main characteristics of Super StethoScope include: (1) simultaneous collection of electrocardiographic and heart sound for the detection of heart rate variability, (2) optimized signal-to-noise ratio in the audible frequency bands, and (3) acquisition of heart sounds including the inaudible frequency ranges. Due to the ability to visualize the data, the device is able to provide quantitative results without disturbance by sound quality alterations during remote auscultations. An online survey of 3648 doctors confirmed that auscultation is the common examination method used in today's clinical practice and revealed that artificial intelligence-based heart sound analysis systems are expected to be integrated into clinicians' practices. Super StethoScope would open new horizons for heart sound research and telemedicine.
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