Dyspnea, otherwise known as shortness of breath or labored breathing, is a common concern family physicians address. Because dyspnea can stem from the heart or many other causes, pinpointing the cause often requires an echocardiogram, which typically means a specialist referral and longer wait times. In Spain, patients wait an average of 64 days to see a cardiologist and up to 25% of urgent referrals are later found to be unnecessary. Nine family medicine clinics across Granada, Madrid, and Barcelona piloted a program that taught family physicians to perform echocardiography with an AI-guided handheld ultrasound device. Physicians with no prior echocardiographic experience completed 12 hours of structured education divided into theoretical instruction and hands-on practice with the device. When patients presented with dyspnea, physicians performed a 12- to 15-minute bedside examination with the AI-guided cardiac ultrasound to assess cardiac function. This approach costs about 20 euros per patient compared to 280 euros for a cardiology referral. The authors estimate this could yield annual savings of 70,000 per clinic in Spain.
Handheld Cardiac Ultrasound Guided by Artificial Intelligence to Detect Heart Failure Across Primary Care
Corresponding Author: Diego Segura-Rodríguez, et al
Cardiology Department, Hospital Universitario San Cecilio, Granada, Spain
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