WORLD – 3M Littmann Stethoscopes, that deals in the production of medical devices and Eko digital innovations, a company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI), collaborate to deliver comprehensive healthcare solutions that will drive better patient outcomes.
This is a collaboration that will see both companies try to meet the growing demand on auscultation in healthcare and the advancing digital technology by marrying 3M Littmann stethoscope technology with advanced Eko digital innovations.
The collaboration has led to the development of an innovation, 3M Littmann Core digital stethoscope that offers clinicians access to both analog and digital auscultation options and connects to Eko’s software and AI algorithms to help clinicians better interpret sounds and detect heart murmurs.
With this new device, clinicians, in-patients and remote patient are set to enjoy an array of benefits that include amplification and active noise cancellation, visualization of sound data during auscultation, access to Eko’s AI and clinical-decision, ability to screen for heart murmurs during routine physical exams and access to Eko’s telemedicine software.
Prior to this collaboration, Eko received the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for an algorithm that can detect the presence of suspected heart murmurs in the month of January.
The use of artificial intelligence in healthcare that is tremendously gaining traction has the potential to assist healthcare providers in many aspects of patient care and administrative processes.
Experts believe that the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare can perform just as well or better than humans at certain procedures, such as diagnosing disease, and it will take a significant number of years before AI in healthcare replaces humans for a broad range of medical tasks.
Currently, handheld devices that rely on ultrasound technology, artificial intelligence and smartphone apps to detect leaks, murmurs, abnormal rhythms and other problems in the heart, lungs and elsewhere are replacing the use of stethoscopes.
With the use of stethoscopes dying, 3M Littmann stethoscope decided to further expand its business model by collaborating with the tech company Eko to produce a digital stethoscope that integrates AI into a 200-year-old invention.
