A world-first randomised controlled trial using artifical intelligence-guided technology to perform a heart ultrasound has been launched in the Walgett. 

The trial will be run from the town’s Aboriginal Medical Service and rolled out by the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute. 

“We are very excited about this. One of the cornerstones of cardiovascular health is the ability to do an ultrasound test on the heart called an echocardiogram (ECHO) test, it shows us the heart valves and the cardio function,” Cardiologist and chief investigator, Professor Tom Marwick told the Western Plains App. 

Marwick explained that taking an ECHO test required a highly skilled stenographer who aren’t readily available in regional towns. 

The artificial intelligence (AI) technology will be able to guide a non-expert in how to take the image which will then be uploaded for Professor Marwick to examine. 

Professor Tom Marwick. Image: Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute. 

Walgett is one five towns across remote Australia chosen for the study. 

In choosing where to conduct the trial Professor Marwick said “We were looking for areas were this limited access to ECHO. You can probably get an ECHO within a week in some regional towns. Once you go further out it gets more difficult”. 

Chronic heart failure is a condition that occurs when the heart becomes weaker or less effective. Causes include high blood pressure or a past heart attack.

25% of all deaths in Australia are related to heart disease.  

Heart failure is not spread evenly across Australia, with rural and remote Australia carrying a disproportionate burden.

Aboriginal people experience significantly higher incidence and death rates from heart failure at younger ages compared to non-Aboriginal people.

Heart valve disease also remains highly prevalent in the Aboriginal community. 

“It’s fundamentally a disease of disadvantage and access to medical services," Professor Marwick told the Western Plains App.

“It is important that we look for solutions to ensure equitable access to important tests like an ECHO to avoid late diagnoses and poorer outcomes for people in rural and remote Australia.” 

This strategy has not been tried before in Australia or elsewhere globally.   

Image: Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute. 

Trial participants who present with potential heart valve problems such an exercise intolerance, chest pain or serious health palpitations will be selected by clinicians at the Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service. 

Professor Marwick says the study hints at the future of AI in medicine.

“The future for AI is very exciting. We are all know seeing all sorts of applications, particular in imaging and also interpretation of images. I know people are anxious about AI. But the way I look at it, is that a practitioner supported by AI is better than a practitioner without it. I dont see it superceding the clinician, but complimenting their work.   

In this study, new equipment and software will be trialled to assist health professionals more readily acquire the ultrasound and allow for remote image processing which is largely automated. Cloud-based storage will also enable remote measurement and interpretation.

This trial, supported by $1 million from the Medical Research Future Fund, aims to investigate the effectiveness of artificial intelligence-based echocardiography.