Ultromics CE mark's EchoGo Pro
Ultromics CE marked its automated coronary artery disease prediction system, EchoGo Pro, allowing it to be used commercially across the UK and the EU.
The AI technology can be used for the first time to accurately and instantly predict heart disease risk through non-invasive, ultrasound analysis. This is the primary imaging test to diagnose heart disease, with a staggering 60,000 Stress Echo scans performed in the UK each year.
Fast prognosis for medical teams
EchoGo Pro is able to deliver heart disease prognosis to hospital sites through its secure cloud system, built in partnership with the NHS based on thousands of past clinical exams. The system automatically analyses echo images and applies artificial intelligence to identify disease, analysing thousands of data points, compared to just a handful of indicators in traditional visual inspection. EchoGo Pro generates a report and sends a prognosis within minutes at the point of care, delivering an accurate representation of the patient's outcome.
Reducing misdiagnosis and enabling earlier prevention of heart disease
Misdiagnosis is a common concern in diagnosing heart disease. Usually, clinicians look for indictors of heart disease by visually analysing echocardiogram images. Due to a complex web of symptoms, circumstances and comorbidities, it's not always easy for doctors to correctly identify conditions on the first visit. It's also subjective to the skill and knowledge of the clinical user and does not take into account data points that are invisible to the human eye. Unfortunately, misdiagnosis of cardiovascular disease occurs in one in five patients.
EchoGo Pro is able to predict disease with a high level of precision and accuracy, through identifying and extracting features not noticeable by eye. This accurate diagnosis can reduce misdiagnosis and help to spot early signs of disease, so preventative steps can be taken before a heart attack strikes. Inaccurate diagnosis can be life-threatening if a patient with a fatal condition is sent home and not operated on. It also wastes time and money on incorrect treatment plans and management for both the patient and the healthcare system. EchoGo Pro allows clinicians to have more information at their disposal, to help properly diagnose and treat coronary artery disease, regardless of their level of experience or training.
Optimizing care pathways and streamlining patient care
EchoGo Pro automatic prognosis can also mean valuable time savings for doctors. The AI system streamlines hospital's workflow, to help reduce the burden on doctors, freeing up their time so they can spend time with patients and potentially treat more people. Streamlined care can make a big difference to hospital and healthcare providers use of money and medical resource.
Proven diagnostic performance
EchoGo Pro was trialled in the UK and US and achieved a diagnostic performance of over 90% (AUROC), significantly reducing the number of misdiagnoses compared to reports of routine clinical practice. The technology has been validated and developed through its partnership in the EVAREST trial with the NHS, one of the largest ultrasound programmes in the world. It's trained on past clinical examples, to spot thousands of features, compared to a handful of indicators in traditional visual inspection. The EVAREST validation trial continues to run in over 30 NHS hospitals and has recruited over 6000 patients to date.
EchoGo Pro uses novel features derived from Stress Echo images and machine learning algorithms.
The system was tested on an independent validation dataset demonstrating an area under the ROC curve of 0.927. In a reader study to evaluate the benefit of EchoGo Pro in clinical settings, clinicians performed significantly better by diagnostic accuracy, with the aid of EchoGo Pro.
