TUESDAY, Feb. 10, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled digital stethoscopes can significantly improve detection of valvular heart disease (VHD), according to a study published in the March issue of the European Heart Journal: Digital Health.
Moshe Rancier, M.D., from Mass General Brigham Community Physicians in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and colleagues examined whether an AI-enabled digital stethoscope can augment primary care providers' ability to detect clinically significant VHD compared with analog auscultation (standard of care [SOC]) in a prospective study involving 357 patients aged 50 years and older at risk for heart disease.
The researchers found that sensitivity was significantly higher with the AI-augmented system versus SOC (92.3 versus 46.2 percent), while specificity was significantly lower (86.9 versus 95.6 percent). Twelve cases of previously undiagnosed moderate- or worse-severity VHD were identified with the AI-augmented system compared with six that were identified with routine auscultation.
"We have shown that an AI-enabled stethoscope is much better at spotting which patients have moderate-to-severe valvular disease than a traditional stethoscope in real-world clinical settings," senior author Rosalie V. McDonough, M.D., from Eko Health in Emeryville, California, said in a statement. "We hope this technology will allow patients to get faster access to an echocardiogram to formally diagnose their condition and then access treatment more quickly. At a population level, this technology could reduce hospital admissions and the overall cost of health care."
Several authors disclosed current or former employment with Eko Health.