Exploring the potential of artificial intelligence in pediatric echocardiography. Preliminary results from the first pediatric study using AI software developed for adults

Abstract

Introduction

Transthoracic echocardiography is the first-line non-invasive investigation for assessing pediatric patients. Sometimes performing echocardiography in pediatric patients can be challenging for physicians and sonographers due to factors such as patient cooperation and time constraints.

Objective

Our primary purpose was to establish whether the Ligence Heart software validated for analyzing adult echocardiography could be transposed to pediatric patients.

Methods

The study was conducted at the University Hospital of Bordeaux between August and September 2022 and included 45 patients with normal or near-normal heart architecture who underwent a 2D TTE. The ultrasound scans were performed manually by two medical practitioners, a senior, a junior and the AI software provided by Ligence Heart Company. Twenty-three features were assessed through echocardiography for each patient. We compared the agreement between methods and observers.

Results/Expected results

The mean age of our patients at the time of evaluation was 8.2 years ± 5.7, and the main reason for referral to our service was the presence of a heart murmur. Bland-Altman analysis showed good agreement between AI and the senior physician for two parameters (aortic annulus and E wave) regardless of the age of the children included in the study. A good agreement between AI and physicians was also achieved for two other features (STJ and EF) but only for patients older than 9 years. For other features, a good agreement was found between physicians but not with the AI, or a poor agreement was established. In the first case, maybe proper training of the AI could improve the measurement, but in the latter case, for now, it seems unrealistic to expect to reach a satisfactory accuracy.

Conclusion/Perspectives

Based on this preliminary study on a small cohort group of pediatric patients, the AI soft originally developed for the adult population had provided promising results in evaluating aortic annulus, STJ, and E wave.