Bay Labs is a San Francisco-based privately held firm which seeks to increase quality, value and access to medical imaging by integrating deep learning and ultrasound.
The study will also assess the use of Bay Labs’ EchoGPS cardiac ultrasound guidance software to allow certified medical assistants (CMAs) as medical professionals with no prior scanning experience to capture high-quality echocardiograms.
It will also evaluate the use of its EchoMD measurement and interpretation software suite to identify several types of heart disease among patients 65 years and older undergoing routine physical examinations in primary care settings.
The non-randomized study, dubbed “SHAPE: Seeing the Heart with AI Powered Echo”, will enroll about 1,200 patients at Northwestern Medicine sites, including Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital and Northwestern Medicine Regional Medical Group primary care clinics.
The primary objective of this study is to determine whether CMAs can use the Bay Labs EchoGPS to obtain diagnostic quality echocardiograms, and if those images reviewed by cardiologists with the assistance of the EchoMD software suite will enable detection of more patients with cardiac disease in a primary care setting compared to standard physical examination with an electrocardiogram (ECG).
The study is part of Bay Labs’ partnership with Northwestern Medicine to find new ways to apply AI in clinical cardiovascular care and fits into Northwestern’s AI initiative, focused on harnessing the power of AI to advance the study and treatment of cardiovascular disease.
EchoGPS from Bay Labs, is an investigational software integrated into an ultrasound system. It uses AI to help in acquiring echocardiograms by providing non-specialist users real-time guidance to obtain cardiac views.
The EchoMD software suite can assist cardiologists in automating the review of images captured.
The company received FDA clearance for its first release of EchoMD in June this year, which included AutoEF software that fully automates clip selection and calculation of left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), the leading measurement of cardiac function.
Bay Labs co-founder and CEO Charles Cadieu said: “The EchoGPS and EchoMD product suite has the potential to transform how cardiovascular care can be delivered in healthcare systems.
“Incorporating our AI software with deep learning technology into clinical practice could allow non specialist medical professionals to acquire images to support cardiologist interpretation and clinical decision-making and may lead to improved patient outcomes through earlier detection and monitoring.”
