1Department of General Surgery, Meenakshi Medical College Hospital & Research Institute, Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research
2Department of Oral Pathology, Meenakshi Ammal Dental College and Hospital, Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research
3Meenakshi College of Nursing, Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research
4Meenakshi College of Pharmacy, Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research
5Meenakshi College of Physiotherapy, Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research
Background: Structural heart disease (SHD) is a disease that is often undiagnosed in civil settings because it has a narrow provision of echocardiography and qualified staff. The potential of early detection is open to artificial intelligence (AI) improvements of wearable ECG technologies that could provide a potentially affordable, scalable technology.
Objective: To reflect the success of AI-augmented ECG wearable screening over conventional community-based echocardiography in detecting previously unknown SHD.
Method: A participatory community based research involved adulthood ages between 40-85 years of age in primary care clinics and at a community health screening. The control group was provided with a single-lead wearable ECG control group plus an AI-based detection algorithm as well as a portable echocardiography by trained sonographers. The accuracy of the diagnosis was assessed against echocardiography which has confirmed accuracy after confirming by cardiologists. The main outcomes were the sensitivity and specificity to finding left-ventricular hypertrophy, valvular malformations and atrial enlargement.
Results: AI-ECG devices showed good diagnostic results (sensitivity 82%, specificity 78%), especially with the ability to diagnose left-ventricular hypertrophy and atrial enlargement. Conventional portable echocardiography exhibited greater overall accuracy (92% sensitivity and 85% specificity respectively) but it was much more time consuming, expensive and required more operator capability. AI-wearables detected 71% of those found with echocardiography and identified one more group previously undetected by electrical abnormalities, which needed to be followed up.
Conclusion: AI-enhanced ECG monitors represent an effective scalable screening instrument of structural heart disease in the community. Although echocardiography has been classified as the gold standard of diagnosis, AI-wearables have the potential to significantly increase early detection potentials in situations when the resources are scarce.
Keywords: ECG wearable, echocardiography, early diagnosis, structural heart disease, diagnostic accuracy.
How to cite this article: Aravind P, Jeyaseelan R, Anitha J, Rajasekhar KK, Kumar SS, Pugazhendhi S. Structural Heart Disease Screening in Community Settings: AI + ECG Wearables vs Traditional Echocardiography. Int J Drug Deliv Technol. 2026;16(10s): 228-233; DOI: 10.25258/ijddt.16.10s.34
Source of support: Nil.
Conflict of interest: None