STAT+: A sweeping new AI to detect heart conditions is coming to OpenEvidence

Pathway Labs received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance this month for EchoNext, an artificial intelligence model designed to detect seven forms of structural heart disease from electrocardiograms (EKGs). Developed by researchers at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University, EchoNext will be integrated into the OpenEvidence platform, a medical evidence search engine utilized by hundreds of thousands of clinicians. This integration will allow doctors using OpenEvidence to upload EKG images and receive algorithmic predictions regarding potential structural heart conditions, such as issues with blood flow due to blocked or leaky valves, and impaired pumping function of the heart chambers. Pathway Labs plans to market EchoNext to hospitals and also license the technology to OpenEvidence, marking a significant step in bringing AI-driven cardiac diagnostics to a wider clinical audience. The FDA clearance signifies the model's ability to identify a range of serious cardiac abnormalities from standard EKG readings.