DAMSUN-HF study shows high sensitivity for AI-assisted stethoscope auscultation and identification of reduced ejection fraction at the point of care
SAN FRANCISCO and KUMASI, Ghana, Nov. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Eko Health, a leader in AI-powered cardiac and pulmonary disease detection, and the G-ACT Foundation today announced results from the DAMSUN-HF (Detection and Management of Heart Failure with SENSORA in Underserved Nations – Heart Failure) study. This groundbreaking, prospective validation demonstrated that AI-enabled digital auscultation can identify heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) at the point of care in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The study, which was simultaneously published in Circulation and presented as a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, marked a significant step toward equitable access to early cardiac detection.
Conducted across district "spoke" clinics and tertiary "hub" centers in Ghana, DAMSUN-HF enrolled 115 adults with cardiopulmonary symptoms and compared AI-assisted auscultation using the Eko SENSORA® platform with blinded transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Eko's Low EF AI identified patients with LVEF ≤ 40 percent at 97 percent sensitivity and 94 percent negative predictive value, with a specificity of 76 percent. Performance remained strong across sex and age groups, supporting consistent front-line detection.
Beyond diagnostic accuracy, the study evaluated real-world integration within Ghana's hub-and-spoke healthcare system. More than 95 percent of participants completed each step from community early detection to cardiologist interpretation within protocol timelines. More than 90 percent of AI-identified cases were reviewed by a cardiologist within 48 hours, demonstrating that AI-powered auscultation can be embedded into existing care pathways without dependence on advanced imaging infrastructure.
"This collaboration between the G-ACT Foundation and Eko Health exemplifies how innovation and compassion can unite to confront one of global cardiology's most enduring challenges, implementation deficiency," said Alexis K. Okoh, MD, Executive Chairman of the G-ACT Foundation and Non-Invasive Cardiologist at Northside Hospital Heart Institute. "DAMSUN-HF not only validates AI-enabled auscultation in Africa, it illuminates a future where every heartbeat, no matter where it begins, has an equal chance to be heard."
This milestone represents a shared vision that AI-enabled auscultation can bridge the divide between innovation and inclusion, ensuring that advanced cardiac disease detection is accessible to patients in underserved settings.
"DAMSUN-HF shows how Eko's platform can help close critical access gaps," said Connor Landgraf, Co-Founder and CEO of Eko Health. "When a frontline nurse or community health worker can identify patients at risk for reduced ejection fraction heart failure within seconds, health professionals can triage earlier and act faster in regions where echocardiography and cardiology resources are limited."
The DAMSUN-HF study was supported by the G-ACT Foundation and conducted in collaboration with Eko Health under the oversight of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Institutional Review Board. The study demonstrates a scalable hub-and-spoke model linking community clinics to tertiary centers through cloud-based data flow and rapid specialist review.
About Eko Health
Eko Health is a pioneering AI early disease detection company advancing how healthcare professionals detect and monitor heart and lung disease through its portfolio of digital stethoscopes, ECG devices, software, and AI-powered analysis. Its FDA-cleared platform, with more than 650,000 devices sold globally, helps clinicians detect earlier and manage treatment more effectively to improve patient outcomes. Eko Health is headquartered in Emeryville, California. For more information, visit ekohealth.com.
About the G-ACT Foundation
The Global Access to Cardiovascular Therapeutics and Diagnostics (G-ACT) Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing equitable access to cardiovascular care through innovation, education, and implementation research. By partnering with governments, academic institutions, and industry leaders, G-ACT develops sustainable models that bring evidence-based cardiac care to underserved communities. Learn more at g-act.org.
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