AI stethoscope could detect major heart conditions in seconds

Stethoscopes powered by artificial intelligence (AI) could help detect three different heart conditions in seconds, researchers say.

The original stethoscope, invented in 1816, allows doctors to listen to the internal sounds of a patient's body.

A British team conducted a study using a modern version and say they found it can spot heart failure, heart valve disease and abnormal heart rhythms almost instantly.

The tool could be a "real game-changer" resulting in patients being treated sooner, the researchers say - with plans to roll the device out across the UK following a study involving 205 GP surgeries in west and north-west London.

The device replaces the traditional chest piece with a device around the size of a playing card. It uses a microphone to analyse subtle differences in heartbeat and blood flow that the human ear cannot detect.

It takes an ECG (electrocardiogram), recording electrical signals from the heart, and sends the information to the cloud to be analysed by AI trained on data from tens of thousands of patients.

The study by Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust saw more than 12,000 patients from 96 surgeries examined with AI stethoscopes manufactured by US firm Eko Health. They were then compared to patients from 109 GP surgeries where the technology was not used.

Those with heart failure were 2.33 times more likely to have it detected within 12 months when examined with the AI stethoscope, researchers said.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, clinical director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and consultant cardiologist, said such innovations are vital "because so often this condition is only diagnosed at an advanced stage when patients attend hospital as an emergency".

"Given an earlier diagnosis, people can access the treatment they need to help them live well for longer."

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Source: BBC News, 30 August 2025