Dutch tech giant Philips is integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in cardiac ultrasound and across cardiac care to improve clinical confidence and increase efficiency.

At this week’s European Society of Cardiology (ESC) congress in Amsterdam, it was showing its portable 5500 CV ultrasound system, which includes an AI-powered automation tool – the automated strain quantification – to assess the function of the heart’s left ventricle, a key indicator of heart health.

“The demands on cardiology departments have never been higher, driving clinicians to balance the delivery of high-quality care for a growing volume of complex patients with pressures to improve departmental efficiency,” said Bert van Meurs, executive vice president at Philips. “From helping sonographers acquire the right image and analyse it in the right way, to cutting the assessment time for cardiac MR and CT images, we’re integrating AI across our portfolio to help clinicians make sense of all the information available to them so that they can focus more on caring for their patients.”

Ultrasound is one of the most used imaging modalities as the first line of diagnosis for cardiac patients. A shortage of operators dealing with heavy workloads and growing numbers of complex cases continues to challenge health systems across the globe. Using AI to help streamline workflows and enhance diagnostic confidence is core to Philips cardiac ultrasound technology. Each year, Philips’ ultrasound systems support the diagnosis and treatment of more than 240 million patients.

Philips specialises in integrating AI-powered technology across its cardiac ultrasound portfolio, including full 3D quantification and modelling of the heart, automated 2D Doppler and length measurements, reproducible 2D strain quantification and dynamic analysis of the mitral valve. The company is now integrating AI-powered automated analysis and reporting.

At ESC, Philips also highlighted its visualisation workspace, which integrates AI-enabled algorithms and workflows into a single workspace. The integration of cardiac MR and CT on the workspace has lowered overall analysis time by 20 to 30%.

Philips (www.philips.com) monitors 1.2 million patients every year, with four billion heartbeat data transmissions daily. Its cardiology management products include remote cardiac monitoring to manage heart patients by extending physicians’ diagnostics and cardiac monitoring from home to hospital and hospital to home.