Echo IQ to present AI heart disease detection tech at high-impact Barcelona conference

Echo IQ (ASX:EIQ) will unveil its latest AI medical research data at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Spain later next month. 

The company is developing machine learning tech to better identify and treat patients with cardiovascular disease; that broad category the global leading cause of death. 

Echo’s chief research officer Professor Geoff Strange will highlight the company’s successes in using its patent AI tech to detect aortic stenosis in trial participants. 

Aortic stenosis is a condition defined by narrowing of the heart’s aortic valve, which feeds back into the aorta (the human body’s largest blood vessel.) 

How does Echo IQ’s tech work?

In short, Echo IQ lets its AI detection software loose on heart ultrasound scans.

Key measurements are captured both manually and through an initial AI scan depending on complexity, before being turned over to a complex algorithm software product. 

Echo’s patent Enhanced Screening Program (ESP) uses those in-house algorithms to identify structural heart issues and shake out results with high ambiguity, reducing risk of error. 

Echo IQ states its software can identify early warning signs of conditions (like aortic stenosis) before patients may be aware of changes to their heartbeat or other symptoms. 

An infographic depicting a flowchart process of Echo IQ's detection software

Big data the key 

A large part of efficacy is based on Echo IQ’s access to the National Echo Database Australia (NEDA). 

This awards Echo access to 1.2M consenting patient records with high ethnic diversity.

The company’s AI tech also incorporates some 200M echocardiographic output measurements, ultimately giving its machine learning tech the chance to “learn” on a massive range of human anatomies. 

Further access to mortality data gives the tech its best possible chance of enhancing the ability to identify high-risk patients, and compare low-risk patients, based on ultrasound data. 

Echo IQ is confident its tech can outperform a human reader interpreting heart ultrasound results.  

Echo IQ sees US FDA approval in early 2023

Echo IQ intends to use the conference to engage with leading players in the sector ahead of regulatory approvals in the US. 

It also hopes to prove its credentials ahead of an expected FDA approval next year.

“Being accepted at the ESC Congress is further evidence of the ground breaking work we are bringing to the cardiology market,” Echo IQ executive chair Andrew Grover said. 

“The work being shared is fundamental for…FDA clearance, expected to be completed in early 2023.”

The US cardiology market is the largest in the world, Echo notes.

Echo IQ's three month charts show it underperforming the healthcare index - however, one week performance is up over 14%