Jan. 8 (UPI) — The Mayo Clinic has announced that a digital stethoscope enabled by artificial intelligence can detect pregnancy-related heart disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New research — lead by a Mayo Clinic cardiologist Dr. Demilade Adedinsewo<\/a> at Mayo’s Jacksonville, Fla., campus — suggests AI has the potential<\/a> to diagnose peripartum cardiomyopathy, a potentially life-threatening but treatable condition that weakens a woman’s heart<\/a> muscle during pregnancy or after giving birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new digital stethoscope captures electrocardiogram data and heart sounds to identify twice as many cases of peripartum cardiomyopathy compared to regular care, according to the American Heart Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Identifying a weak heart pump caused by pregnancy is crucial because symptoms — like shortness of breath, swelling, weight gain and rapid heartbeat — can be confused with normal pregnancy symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nigerian women have high cases reported of peripartum cardiomyopathy, according to a study. The randomized clinical trial enrolled 1,195 women receiving pregnancy care in Nigeria and was able to predict peripartum cardiomyopathy when the AI-enabled digital stethoscope was put to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n