Heart valve disease (VHD), also known as valvular heart disease, has been described as the “next cardiac epidemic” due to its prognosis being worse than many cancers. Approximately 50% of patients with significant VHD remain undiagnosed, and many only seek medical attention when the disease has progressed to advanced stages, causing severe complications. Early detection of heart valve disease is crucial, as it can improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Traditionally, heart valve disease is diagnosed through auscultation, which involves listening to heart sounds with a stethoscope. However, only 38% of patients presenting symptoms of valve disease receive this examination because the symptoms can be easily mistaken for other respiratory conditions. Not only is stethoscope-based diagnosis less accurate, but the examination process also requires patients to partially undress, which can be time-consuming and uncomfortable, especially for women in routine screening settings. While an echocardiogram is considered the “gold standard” for diagnosing heart valve disease, it requires hospital visits, and long waiting times for appointments that can delay diagnosis.

A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge (Cambridge, UK) has now developed a portable device that could potentially replace traditional stethoscopes for detecting certain heart diseases. This new device allows both medical professionals and non-medical individuals to accurately record heart sounds with ease. Unlike conventional stethoscopes, the device’s larger and more flexible sensing area captures clearer heart sounds, even if it’s not precisely placed on the chest. Additionally, the device can be used over clothing, making it more comfortable for patients, particularly women, during routine screenings or community-based health programs. Its design includes materials capable of transmitting vibrations, enabling it to be used non-invasively over clothes while maintaining patient privacy, which is especially important in community health screenings.

The Cambridge-developed device uses six sensors, compared to the single sensor found in regular stethoscopes. This increased surface area makes it easier for healthcare providers or even non-professionals to obtain an accurate reading. Between the sensors, there is a gel that absorbs vibrations, preventing interference between them. The heart sounds captured by the device can be saved and analyzed to detect potential heart valve disease. The researchers tested the device on healthy participants with various body types and recorded their heart sounds. The results of these tests are published in the IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics.

The next phase of testing will involve evaluating the device in clinical settings with a diverse range of patients and comparing the results to those obtained through echocardiograms. Alongside the development of the device, the researchers have created a machine learning algorithm that analyzes the recorded heart sounds to automatically detect signs of valve disease. Preliminary tests suggest that the algorithm outperforms general practitioners (GPs) in identifying heart valve disease. The team believes the device could serve as a valuable tool for triaging patients awaiting an echocardiogram, allowing those showing signs of valve disease to receive quicker hospital referrals and treatment.

“To help get waiting lists down, and to make sure we’re diagnosing heart valve disease early enough that simple interventions can improve quality of life, we wanted to develop an alternative to a stethoscope that is easy to use as a screening tool,” said Professor Anurag Agarwal from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering, who led the research.

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