A study presented at the ESC Congress 2024 in London found that echocardiograms performed remotely using a 5G cellular network and robotic arm technology had similar accuracy to those performed by cardiologists in person.
In the study, conducted by researchers from Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai, China, researchers enrolled 51 patients from an outpatient cardiology clinic located 20 km from the hospital.
Echocardiograms using the robotic arm resulted in the same diagnosis as conventional in-person echocardiography in 98% of cases. Among the 51 patients enrolled, 50 of them had sufficient image quality for diagnosis, with 1 patient excluded because of the inability to obtain key views using the remote system.
Conventional in-person echocardiography identified heart problems in 17 (34%) of the patients, including 10 patients with valvulopathy (1 Barlow's syndrome, 1 bicuspid aortic valve, and 8 less-than-moderate regurgitation), 2 cardiac surgery follow-ups (1 case of aortic valve replacement and septal myectomy as well as 1 case of mitral valve replacement and tricuspid annuloplasty), 2 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (including 1 case of obstruction at papillary muscle level), 2 with abnormal left ventricular wall motion (including 1 case of apical mural thrombus), and 1 with congenital heart disease (secundum atrial septal defect).
The remote echocardiography system missed one instance of papillary muscle level obstruction, resulting in a 98% diagnostic accuracy compared with conventional echocardiography. Image acquisition time using remote echocardiography was approximately 50% longer than conventional methods (24 minutes 36 seconds vs 16 minutes 15 seconds).
"Comprehensive echocardiographic exam with a 5G cellular network and robotic arm–based remote system is feasible with relatively good diagnostic accuracy," suggested lead study author Yu Liu, of Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai, China.
The researchers emphasized that this technology could increase accessibility to medical resources among patients who may need to travel less to receive a diagnosis and medical advice from cardiologists based in referral centers.
The researchers emphasized that a larger-scale, multicenter study involving both local hospitals and referral centers should be carried out before this new technology is widely implemented in clinical practice. Additionally, the availability of 5G technology may limit the immediate adoption of this remote echocardiography system in some areas.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest
