Non-Invasive Test Enables Simple and Low-Cost Screening for Stroke Risk Assessment

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 10 Mar 2023

Image: The Aria System Auscultation platform includes the Aria stethoscope (Photo courtesy of Bongiovi Medical)

Carotid atherosclerosis results in various pathological conditions such as stroke. An integral part of managing significant carotid stenosis (SCS) is its early detection and intervention. Now, a bedside screening tool that combines an investigational, custom-designed carotid stethoscope and smartphone app has been shown to offer accurate screening for carotid stenosis.

In a groundbreaking study by Bongiovi Medical & Health Technologies (BMHT, Port St. Lucie, FL, USA), investigators combined the Aria carotid stethoscope and smart phone app developed by Bongiovi Acoustic Labs to make recordings of the right and left sides of the patients within just a few minutes. Using Bongiovi's FDA-certified MDPS software, the recordings were processed digitally and analyzed spectrographically to derive two novel parameters: percent bruit onset time and bruit spectrographic shape.

The study yielded impressive results, with a negative predictive value of 99% for detecting significant carotid stenosis, meaning it is 99% accurate in ruling out the presence of SCS. Additionally, for patients with a bruit present, the combination of the two unique acoustic metrics yielded 100% specificity and 90% sensitivity for identifying the presence of SCS.

"This bedside screening tool provides an essential component of any comprehensive stroke risk management system" said Dr. Thomas Haffey, lead investigator. "As a low-cost electronic stethoscope design, this technology is well suited for underserved patient demographics and telemedicine applications and has obvious integration potential with AI methods."

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