AI-Powered Stethoscope Doubles Detection Of Heart Problems

Key TakeawaysAn AI-powered stethoscope can help doctors better detect heart diseaseDoctors accurately identified heart valve disease twice as often with the AI stethoscopeThe stethoscope records heart sounds and uses AI to analyze them.MONDAY, Feb. 9, 2026 (HealthDay News) — An artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled stethoscope more than doubles a doctor’s ability to detect heart murmurs, a symptom of severe heart disease, a new study says.Doctors armed with the AI-powered stethoscope accurately identified heart valve disease 92% of the time, versus 46% when using a traditional stethoscope, researchers reported Feb. 5 in the European Heart Journal-Digital Health.“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,” said senior researcher Dr. Rosalie McDonough, senior manager of medical affairs for the health technology company Eko Health in Emeryville, California.“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,” she said in a news release. “At a population level, this technology could reduce hospital admissions and the overall cost of health care.”Doctors use a stethoscope to listen to a person’s heart for sounds associated heart disease. These can include a heart murmur — a “whooshing” or “swishing” sound that occurs during a heartbeat, caused by turbulent blood flow through the heart.The AI-powered stethoscope works by recording a person’s heart sounds and using AI analysis to recognize sound patterns associated with heart valve disease, researchers said.For the new study, 357 people 50 and older at risk for heart disease were examined using both a traditional stethoscope and the AI-enabled stethoscope.Researchers tracked the number of times a doctor detected heart murmur using either device. The patients’ heart health was then more closely examined using an echocardiogram, to confirm the presence of heart valve disease.Results showed that the AI stethoscope helped doctors better listen to a person’s heart and catch heart disease.“The use of artificial intelligence provides an additional analytical layer, highlighting abnormalities that may be difficult to consistently detect by ear alone,” McDonough said. “But technology is not taking over; use of this device requires doctors to use their own clinical judgment.”Researchers also observed another benefit."Patients assessed with the AI-enabled digital stethoscope seemed more engaged during their appointment,” McDonough added. “We think this was because they could see and hear what the clinician was responding to – which may increase trust and engagement with follow-up treatment.”However, further research is needed to test the stethoscope’s performance in a variety of clinical settings and a greater diversity of patients, researchers said.“This research adds to a growing body of evidence that artificial intelligence can enhance traditional clinical tools in a practical and responsible way that does not replace health professionals but gives them tools to have more confidence in their assessment of patients,” McDonough said.More informationThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on heart valve disease.SOURCE: European Society of Cardiology, news release, Feb. 5, 2026 .What This Means For YouAn AI-powered stethoscope can help doctors catch the sounds that indicate heart disease..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter