Royal Philips (NYSE:PHG) said last week that it launched HeartModel A.I., an “anatomically intelligent” cardiac ultrasound with 3D echocardiogram capabilities. The announcement was made during the American Society of Echocardiography’s annual meeting in Boston.
The HeartModel is 3 to 6 times faster than conventional 2D exams in gathering left ventricular and atrial dimensions and volumes, Philips said. The system uses a digital database of anatomical models and adaptive system technology that can automatically adapt to variability in patient anatomy, the company added.
“The HeartModel is a new concept in which Philips took 1,000 echochardiograms and put them into a model of 3D ultrasound data sets, and this model is then capable of taking an individual data set and identifying where the heart is, identifying the direction of the heart and identifying the borders of the heart,” University of Chicago Medicine’s Dr. Roberto Lang told MassDevice.com.
More importantly than the speed, said Lang, was the reproducibility of the images when using the HeartModel.
“With this machine-based reading, the reproducibility is very much improved. So that also allows us to measure patients serially – patients who get chemo therapy, or any disorder that might make the heart not work as well, you can follow it in a much more reproducible way,” Lang said. “Anybody who runs the model will get exactly the same result.”
“Health systems are constantly looking for solutions to provide the most efficient and effective way to an accurate diagnosis. At Philips, we’re driving innovation in the cardiology space to help clinicians make decisions early, fast and confidently. By combining AIUS with the power of HeartModelA.I., we’re using automatic quantification and intelligence and our renowned image quality to bring more diagnostic confidence to cardiac procedures and to create more reproducible results,” Philips senior medical director of cardiovascular ultrasound Dr. Ivan Salgo said in a press release.
Philips said that HeartModel is planned to be made available on the company’s Epiq 7 ultrasound systems in the U.S. beginning in August, with a global release slated for the fall.
