Accurate Modeling of Ejection Fraction and Stroke Volume With Mobile Phone Auscultation: Prospective Case-Control...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Digital Health

Background:

• Heart failure (HF) significantly impacts global morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs.
• Accurate HF parameter measurement is limited in ambulatory, rural, and underserved settings, hindering telehealth applications.
• Current diagnostic limitations in remote settings necessitate innovative, accessible solutions for HF management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a novel diagnostic technology for heart failure (HF) utilizing audio recordings from standard mobile phones.
• To develop and validate physics-based predictive algorithms for estimating key HF parameters.
• To assess the feasibility of using mobile phone acoustics for HF diagnosis and monitoring in diverse settings.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study involving acoustic microphone recordings from patients at two US clinical sites.
• Physics-based models were used to create predictive algorithms correlating acoustic data with echocardiogram-derived ejection fraction (EF) and stroke volume (SV).
• Recordings were obtained at the aortic site with patients in an upright position, analyzing acoustic frequencies to determine HF indicators.

Main Results:

• The study analyzed recordings from 113 participants, with no exclusions due to background noise.
• The physics-based model achieved high accuracy for EF (AUROC 0.955) and SV (AUROC 0.922) estimation.
• Acoustic frequencies related to SV were higher and more prone to distortion than those for EF, indicating distinct physiological signatures.

Conclusions:

• Mobile phone auscultation recordings can accurately estimate EF and SV, demonstrating a novel HF diagnostic approach.
• This technology holds potential for a mobile app to facilitate HF screening and monitoring in home, telehealth, rural, and underserved settings.
• The developed method offers accessible, high-quality diagnostic capabilities using readily available mobile phone equipment, expanding HF care globally.