Democratizing Cardiac Care with the AI Stethoscope - Eko Health

Our latest episode features Chris Economos, Senior VP of Business Development at Eko Health, the company reimagining one of medicine's most iconic tools with AI.

Eko modernizes the traditional stethoscope by integrating digital sensors and artificial intelligence, with devices ranging from analog retrofit attachments to the flagship Core 500 which simultaneously captures acoustic and ECG signals to analyze the heart's electromechanical coupling and detect conditions like reduced ejection fraction.

With over 700,000 Eko stethoscopes now in the market, the company has built a proprietary dataset that fuels a virtuous cycle: daily clinical use continuously refines its AI. The results speak for themselves. The landmark "Tricorder" study led by Imperial College London found that practices using Eko diagnosed nearly twice as many patients with structural heart disease, 2.5 times more with heart failure, and 3.5 times more with AFib compared to those without the
technology.

Perhaps most compelling is Eko's global health equity story. In Ghana, the technology demonstrated 97% sensitivity in identifying low ejection fraction, and in Nigeria, community health workers, without any physician present, used Eko devices to detect peripartum cardiomyopathy in pregnant women.

Looking ahead, Eko is targeting one million stethoscopes in clinicians' hands, expanding enterprise health system partnerships, and extending its AI to detect COPD, pneumonia, and more.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in AI-powered diagnostics, health equity, or the future of cardiopulmonary care at the point of care.