Oh, patents! EKO System AI-powered assisted diagnosis (5)

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

EKO’s wireless auscultation stethoscope and cardiac sensor not only capture body sounds that are transcribed by proprietary software into readable graphs and numeric data. The EKO System also comprises a patented AI-powered method of analyzing the sounds captured and transcribed, in view of assisting physician diagnosis. 

The EKO System AI-powered method of diagnosis assistance consists in comparing the body sounds recorded and transcribed from a patient with those stored in a database of prerecorded health conditions, using a combination of neural-network technology and proprietary machine-learning algorithms designed to update the database. Thus, the EKO System not only enables remote diagnosis within the anticipated context of telemedicine, for cost-effective delivery and continuity of care to remote and underserved populations, and within the unexpected conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, it also sets itself apart by providing analysis of the sounds captured and transcribed wirelessly. An analysis of sounds captured and recorded, which returns a list of potential conditions, matching specific sample health conditions stored in the database. A list of conditions, including “regular”, presented in their order of likelihood, with or without the matching sound graphs extracted from the database, which the physician, in turn, can use to inform his or her diagnosis. 

The AI-powered  EKO System invention is recited in the utility patent US9973847B2, titled Mobile device-based stethoscope system. The invention recites the hardware and software components of the system, as well as the database architecture and segmentation of sounds, that together comprise the mobile-based stethoscope system, designed “to serve as a decision-support tool for physicians”. 

The matching database sounds are specifically recited for patient heart sounds. However, the scope of the invention extends to other body sounds captured by a stethoscope, such as respiratory or digestive sounds, which would then be compared and matched to a different and corresponding set of pre-recorded conditions, populating the database.

For anyone interested in listening to a variety of body sound conditions, the following videos are extracted from the EKO System sound Libary. The videos respectively provide sounds for heart and lung conditions, in particular: normal heart sound, atrial fibrillation and pericardial rub for heart conditions recorded via EKO Digital Stethoscope; crackles, wheezes and egophony for lung conditions recorded via  EKO Core Digital Stethoscope. 

Heart sound 

Lung sounds

The abstract of the EKO System AI-powered diagnosis assistance invention is included below.

A mobile device-based stethoscope system that transmits, records, and analyzes sounds to generate a list of matching conditions and facilitates easy attachment across various electronic medical record platforms and other means of communication. The invention is configured to allow the use of either an integrated wireless stethoscope, or an in-line adapter for a conventional stethoscope. Patient sounds are sent from the selected stethoscope head to the mobile device having a software application that allows for the analysis, attachment, and further manipulation of the data. [Abstract US9973847B2]

References

EKO Health https://www.ekohealth.com/  

Normal Heart Sounds - EKO  Digital Stethoscope

https://youtu.be/0dynySg42pY?list=PLiBut4FiEuZVRFZONVn1xTBUEps_oGRDT

Atrial fibrillation Heart Sounds - EKO  Digital Stethoscope                                              https://youtu.be/va5WiKZ2WCM?list=PLiBut4FiEuZVRFZONVn1xTBUEps_oGRDT

Pericardial rub Heart Sounds - EKO Digital Stethoscope                                                              https://youtu.be/-DB_8zyg9W8?list=PLiBut4FiEuZVRFZONVn1xTBUEps_oGRDT

Crackles Lung Sounds - EKO Core Digital Stethoscope                                                                https://youtu.be/kwltwuAPn1o?list=PLiBut4FiEuZVRFZONVn1xTBUEps_oGRDT

Wheezes Lung Sounds - EKO  Core Digital Stethoscope                                                           

 https://youtu.be/4hCuuF4n_m0?list=PLiBut4FiEuZVRFZONVn1xTBUEps_oGRDT

Egophony Lung Sounds  - EKO  Core Digital Stethoscope   https://youtu.be/E6VC1esEPcYlist=PLiBut4FiEuZVRFZONVn1xTBUEps_oGRDT