Why vendor neutrality is important for the future of AI in echocardiography

Echocardiography is seeing a rise in AI solutions that automate measurements for heart disease detection and risk stratification of heart failure (HF), however, there are still barriers to overcome to ensure this technology is future-proof.

One key challenge is the absence of vendor neutrality in many AI echo solutions. Vendor-dependent AI solutions are more complicated to deploy in clinical practice, and the technology can quickly become obsolete. This inevitably leads to the same challenges involving costly updates and maintenance.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at vendor neutrality and why it’s critical to consider when evaluating AI solutions.

Why is Vendor Neutrality Critical To The Future of AI?

The technology for echocardiography analysis has traditionally been restricted to one vendor in the place where it was installed, meaning clinicians can only use software in that place.

However, as technology continues to advance, these vendor-dependent applications can cause data silos. The result is more time and money spent on updates, and less of these resources dedicated to the patient.

Even innovative AI solutions are affected by vendor-dependent setups. This can lead to the same limitations clinicians experience with traditional echo technologies. In order to use AI to its fullest extent and see a return on investment, clinicians need a vendor neutral solution.

How The Cloud Supports Vendor Neutrality in AI Solutions

There is a straightforward alternative to point-based AI solutions: the cloud.

Cloud-based platforms not only accept data from any imaging source, and in any care setting, but they also work alongside your existing technology in place. The cloud offers a unified platform that is universal in supporting multiple vendors and workflows. As most cloud-based platforms can be integrated through a single cloud connection, new measurements, such as cardiac strain, can be used on day one.

This offers every care team member access to the best-in-class toolkit for disease detection. Providers benefit from a unified, centralized platform for all users, in all environments.

Additionally, new AI options are seamlessly added to the toolkit by the cloud provider as their library of algorithms grows. This ability to rapidly adopt new tools will be key to improving patient care, especially as providers move toward value-based reimbursement.

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Ultromics Offers Vendor Neutrality

At Ultromics, our mission is to provide clinicians with a powerful cloud AI solution for echocardiography analysis which automates measurements and makes accurate calculations that are not only interchangeable with expert clinicians, but also correlate with a patient’s known outcome. The technology operates through a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), alleviating the need for expensive on-premises software solutions. Ultromics manages the complete life-cycle and support, including integrated business intelligence, QC, and lifetime updates, allowing providers to focus on balancing the best economic and operational value.

Importantly, Ultromics’AI has been proven to offer zero variability reporting and eliminates the time it takes to make manual measurements. [1] Ultromics connects seamlessly through a secure cloud to automatically interpret echocardiogram scans passing through the PACS or EHR. It then sends these reports to help with clinical decisions.

Ultromics’ AI can recognise HF, for example, by using its algorithms to quantify strain, ejection fraction (EF) and volumes. It takes patient images from PACS, activates the AI pipeline, and sends the result in a comprehensive report, appended to the original study, back to the PACS or dedicated viewer.

Clinicians no longer need to manually quantify these measurements, a task that could take up to 15 minutes using traditional software. This means that measurements which have been added to regulatory guidelines can now be added to daily practice, without spending extra time on them. [2]

Ensuring that your AI solution is vendor neutral is key to future-proofing your existing echo technology. Cloud-based technology allows for AI to go beyond point-based systems, which offers infinite scalability at reduced cost.

At Ultromics, we have built our AI technology for optimal performance in the cloud. Our vendor-independence, scale, and expertise allows providers to utilize advanced diagnostics capabilities in their workflows. Ultromics’ AI solutions provide tremendous opportunities for improving patient care, as can be seen in our case studies.

References:

Karagodin I, Singulane CC, GM Woodward, et al. Echocardiographic Correlates of In-Hospital Death in Patients with Acute COVID-19 Infection: The World Alliance Societies of Echocardiography (WASE-COVID) Study. Journal of the American Society of Electrocardiogram. 2021;34:819-830
Nagueh S, Smiseth A, Appleton CP et al. Recommendations for the Evaluationof Left Ventricular Diastolic Function by Echocardiography: An Update from the American Society of Echocardiography and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging. Journal of the American Society of Echocardiogrpahy. 2016;29:277-314