EchoNous AI ultrasound shows promise in heart-function study

The use of EchoNous' Kosmos hand-held device for AI-enhanced point-of-care ultrasound (AI-POCUS) is feasible for the assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), according to a real-world study published in Nature's Scientific Reports.

"The newer version, trained with larger and more heterogeneous data, demonstrated improved performance, underscoring the importance of big data accumulation in the field," the authors said.

The study aimed to validate the ability of the device to automatically assess LVEF. It was used to prospectively scan 182 patients in two hospitals in Japan. The AI-POCUS device was compared with the standard biplane disk method using high-end US machines.

Outcomes from the two methods were similar. Reduced LVEF <50% was detected by AI-POCUS with a sensitivity of 85% and specificity of 81%. However, AI-POCUS tended to underestimate LV volumes for larger LV with an overall bias of 42.1 mL for end-diastolic volume. Researchers said this error was abated with a newer version of the software tuned using increased data involving larger LVs.

EchoNous raised $7 million last July and later launched its AI-enhanced two-plus probe ultrasound imaging solution Kosmos Plus. The funding followed a $57-million raise in 2022 and a $60-million raise in 2021.