Study Highlights Eko Health’s AI for Detecting Pulmonary Hypertension

Eko Health is adding to a cache of clinical evidence proving its digital stethoscope can identify elevated pulmonary artery systolic pressures, a key indicator of pulmonary hypertension (PH).

A large peer-reviewed study in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA), highlighted the ability of Eko Health’s algorithm to analyze heart sounds recorded with a digital stethoscope. The study underscores the potential of this non-invasive, rapid detection tool to aid clinical decision-making in primary care and other settings where costly or invasive diagnostic methods are less accessible, according to the company. Additionally, the algorithm demonstrated its ability to pinpoint specific, clinically relevant segments of heart sound recordings, offering a transparent and explainable artificial intelligence (AI) approach that aligns with physicians’ diagnostic workflows.

“This innovative approach demonstrates how combining digital stethoscopes with advanced AI can lead to a low-cost, non-invasive, point-of-care screening tool for the early detection of pulmonary hypertension,” said Dr. Gaurav Choudhary, lead principal investigator, the Ruth and Paul Levinger Professor of Cardiology and director of Cardiovascular Research at Brown University Health and the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. “Our findings represent a significant advancement in clinical practice that can ultimately enhance patient care.”

The study used 6,000 heart sound recordings paired with echocardiographic pressure estimates to train the AI model. Eko Health’s algorithm demonstrated strong performance, with an average area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve of 0.79, a 71% sensitivity, and 73% specificity. Ongoing data collection from more than 1,200 patients continues to refine the model’s accuracy and clinical utility, with the goal of further improving detection capabilities for broader clinical use.

“These encouraging results highlight Eko Health’s commitment to advancing innovation in cardiopulmonary health,” said Dr. Steve Steinhubl, Eko’s Scientific Advisory Board chair and cardiologist and professor of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. “The company’s goal is to develop pioneering AI solutions that address significant gaps in healthcare delivery. Early detection and intervention are essential in addressing cardiovascular diseases, and Eko is dedicated to providing accessible and scalable technologies that empower healthcare providers while improving patient care globally.”

Pulmonary hypertension—characterized by elevated pressure in the blood vessels connecting the heart and lungs—places significant strain on the heart and can lead to heart failure, early disability, or mortality if left untreated. Despite being a serious condition, PH is often underdiagnosed due to the limited availability of effective detection tools. The condition is also present in people with heart and lung diseases and is estimated to impact up to 10% of people aged 65 and older globally, with millions more affected under the age of 65. In severe cases, it can take more than two years from symptom onset to receive a proper diagnosis.

Eko’s algorithm was partially funded through a $2.7 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to Eko and Dr. Choudhary. The funding supported a collaboration with Brown University Health System’s Cardiovascular Institute, enabling research into early detection methods for conditions that demand timely intervention.

Eko Health is a digital health company advancing the way healthcare professionals detect and monitor heart and lung disease with its portfolio of digital stethoscopes, patient and provider software, and AI-powered analysis. Its U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared platform is used by more than 500,000 healthcare professionals worldwide to detect heart and lung disease earlier and with higher accuracy, diagnose with more confidence, manage treatment effectively, and ultimately give patients the best care possible. Eko Health is headquartered in Emeryville, Calif., with more than $165 million in funding from ARTIS Ventures, DigiTx Partners, Double Point Ventures, EDBI, Highland Capital Partners, LG Technology Ventures, Mayo Clinic, Morningside Technology Ventures Limited, NTTVC, Questa Capital, and others.

Formed in 1994, Brown University Health is a not-for-profit health system based in Providence, R.I., comprised of three teaching hospitals of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University: Rhode Island Hospital and its Hasbro Children’s Hospital; The Miriam Hospital; and Bradley Hospital, the nation’s first psychiatric hospital for children; Newport Hospital, a community hospital offering a broad range of health services; Gateway Healthcare, the state’s largest provider of community behavioral health care; Brown Health Medical Group, the largest multi-specialty practice in Rhode Island; and Brown Health Medical Group Primary Care, a primary care driven medical practice. Brown University Health teaching hospitals received more than $145 million in external research funding in fiscal 2023.