If left untreated, aortic stenosis, i.e. heart valve disease, carries a high 2-5 year mortality rate. What’s more, fewer women compared to men receive an accurate diagnosis of the disease. So, in a matter of life and death, artificial intelligence (AI) shines through, with AI and MedTech company Echo IQ (ASX: EIQ) having found a solution to these problems in the form of its AI-driven Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) technology, EchoSolv.

The technology is capable of detecting heart valve diseases without human intervention, and its success has compelled hospitals to come on board. The Company has signed an agreement with the Gold Coast Private Hospital, part of Healthscope Ltd, Australia’s largest private hospital operator with 42 hospitals located across all Australian states and territories. This marks the first sale of EchoSolv into an Australian hospital.

Echo IQ Executive Chair, Andrew Grover, said, “This is an outstanding development for Echo IQ and excellent validation of EchoSolv by a leading and respected private Australian hospital with a large cardiovascular footprint. This sale delivers real momentum to our strategy of getting EchoSolv deployed at scale into a larger network of hospitals and cardiology clinics and practices, primarily in Australia and the United States where we have a pipeline of live opportunities.”

Queensland-based Gold Coast Private Hospital holds a prominent position within the healthcare landscape. For one, it shares a location with Gold Coast University Hospital and Griffith University, forming a vital component of the Health and Knowledge Precinct. Secondly, the hospital boasts a team of 15 cardiologists and 4 cardiothoracic surgeons. With its three advanced catheter labs and hybrid theatre, along with 18 state-of-the-art operating theatres, the hospital offers integrated cardiac care that encompasses diagnostic, therapeutic, and procedural services.

Gold Coast Private Hospital has chosen EchoSolv to enhance the accurate and timely identification of aortic stenosis (heart valve disease) among its patients. By deploying EchoSolv in its cardiology practice, Gold Coast Private Hospital’s clinicians will gain real-time access to comprehensive assessments of patient echocardiograms (ultrasound imaging of the heart) powered by Echo IQ’s innovative technology.

This real-time analysis will equip clinicians with powerful decision-support capabilities during diagnosis and treatment planning. The hospital will pay a monthly fee for this Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution. The initial contract spans 12 months, beginning with the provision of historical measurement data from Gold Coast Private Hospital for an initial review.

The agreement adheres to standard commercial terms for a partnership of this nature and is expected to generate approximately $70,000 in annual revenues for Echo IQ. Moreover, the collaboration provides Gold Coast Private Hospital with early access to Echo IQ’s future AI-backed solutions targeting additional forms of structural heart disease.

The Company has unveiled recent studies demonstrating EchoSolv’s ability to improve the detection of severe aortic stenosis by an impressive 72% compared to human-only diagnosis. Notably, EchoSolv exhibits significant accuracy in identifying patients with the disease, regardless of gender. Prior to its introduction, women were 66% less likely than men to receive an accurate diagnosis in the absence of EchoSolv.

Making a case for both AI and gender parity, EchoSolv is gearing up for more commercialisation opportunities in the US and Australia.