AI model accurately interprets echocardiograms: 5 study notes

An automated AI system accurately performed echocardiogram interpretation with a median normalized mean absolute error of 0.13, according to a study published June 23 in JAMA. 

Researchers trained the system, called PanEcho, on echocardiogram data from transthoracic echocardiographs performed at Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health System hospitals. The AI system’s performance was then externally validated across four diverse cohorts and publicly available data.

Here are five things to know from the findings:

1. The study included 1.2 million echocardiographic videos from 32,265 transthoracic echocardiographs of 24,405 Yale New Haven patients.
   
   
2. Researchers analyzed the system’s diagnostic performance on 18 classifications tasks using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve measurement. On a range from 0 to 1, the system’s median score was 0.91 across all 18 tasks.
   
   
3. When comparing the system’s interpretation performance against cardiologist interpretation of 21 echocardiographic measurements, PanEcho had a median normalized mean absolute error of 0.13. 
   

4. PanEcho accurately estimated left ventricular ejection fraction, and detected moderate or worse left ventricular systolic dysfunction, right ventricular systolic dysfunction and severe aortic stenosis.
   
   
5. “This AI system may be used as an adjunct reader in echocardiography laboratories or AI-enabled screening tool in point-of-care settings following prospective evaluation in the respective clinical workflows,” the study authors wrote.

Read the full study here.