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FAQs
Q: What is AUDICOR®?
Q: What is the technology behind AUDICOR®?
Q: What diagnostic data is available on the report?
Q: How do diseases like heart failure cause the heart to produce abnormal sound?
Q: What is the clinical relevance of the third heart sound in heart failure?
Q: How can AUDICOR® help EMS providers’ diagnose heart failure?
Q: How can AUDICOR®’s electrocardiography help improve the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome?
Q: How can AUDICOR® EMS providers make better transport decisions?
Q: How has this technology been validated?
Q: How does interference from ambulances, EMS vehicles affect the sound quality?
Q: Can AUDICOR® be used on helicopters?
Q: Are there peer-reviewed medical publications on this technology?
Q: What pre-hospital clinical studies have investigated AUDICOR®?
Q: What articles have been written about AUDICOR®?
Q: What is AUDICOR®?
AUDICOR® is the first non-invasive technology to accurately diagnose, quickly assess, and easily monitor higher risk cardiac conditions including heart failure and acute coronary syndrome (ACS). AUDICOR® is being used across the continuum of care – in the pre-hospital community, emergency departments, for hospital inpatients, and physicians’ offices because of its easy to use interface, cost-effective nature, and valuable diagnostic results helping improve missed diagnosis rates, facilitating earlier treatments, and improving clinical outcomes of patients.
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Q: What is the technology behind AUDICOR®?
AUDICOR® uses a patented signal processing technology called correlated audioelectric cardiography (COR) to simultaneously detect, interpret and document the electrical and acoustical (heart sounds) activities of the heart. Dual-function AUDICOR® sensors are placed on a patient’s chest to record the incoming signals. Since a third heart sound has a low frequency and appears at a very specific time in the cardiac cycle, AUDICOR® is able to more accurately detect all third heart sounds that are present. Analysis and interpretation takes only 10 seconds and results are documented on a single-page report.
Click here to visit Our Technology page to learn more.
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Q: What diagnostic data is available on the report?
The report provides a diagnostic summary of heart sounds and electrocardiogram (ECG) findings, a representative beat of detected heart sounds (S1-S4) with the corresponding QRS complex, and a 10 second heart sound rhythm trace. If a myocardial infarction is detected, a graphical depiction of the likely location of injury denotes acute and ‘age undetermined’ and a bar graph documents the evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy. Paramedics are able to quickly use this data in the clinical management of cardiac patients.
Click here to visit Our Technology page to learn more.
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Q: How do diseases like heart failure cause the heart to produce abnormal sound?
The heart produces both normal (“lub-dub”) and abnormal sounds as blood moves throughout the heart. Cardiac diseases including heart failure cause the heart muscle to stiffen, making it difficult for the heart to properly contract and relax as it pumps blood. The abnormal third heart sound is produced when fast moving blood is suddenly stopped because the stiffened heart wall is unable to stretch.
Click here to visit Learn About Heart Sounds page to learn more.
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Q: What is the clinical relevance of the third heart sound in heart failure?
The presence of a third heart sound has high prognostic and diagnostic value in adults over 40 years old who exhibit signs and symptoms associated with heart failure. A landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine indicated the presence of a third heart sound (S3) is 99% specific for heart failure and leads to increased morbidity and mortality. The absence of a third heart sound, however, it is not sufficient to exclude ventricular dysfunction, so further diagnostic investigations should be considered.
Click here to visit Learn About Heart Sounds page to learn more.
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Q: How can AUDICOR® help EMS providers’ diagnose heart failure?
Currently, EMS providers use patient history and physical exams to diagnose a patient’s shortness of breath. However, patient history is often not available and physical examination is often non-specific. A pre-hospital study of 222 adult patients with shortness of breath noted an overall diagnosis error of 23%. In those patients with co-morbidities, e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure was missed in 46%. Accurate pre-hospital diagnosis and treatment improves patient outcomes. Conversely, administrating heart failure drugs to patients with non-cardiac shortness of breath increases patient mortality (13.6% improper treatment vs. 3.8% proper treatment). AUDICOR® identifies the third heart sound, which in the appropriate clinical context should lead EMS providers to consider heart failure as a potential diagnosis.
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Q: How can AUDICOR®’s electrocardiography help improve the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome?
Studies indicate AUDICOR® electrocardiography has significantly better overall sensitivity performance compared to the leading electrocardiographs.
- 32–76% improvement for detecting acute myocardial infarctions
- 17–84% improvement for detecting acute myocardial infarctions in women
- 35–76% better sensitivity on acute myocardial infarctions in the presence of confounders.
In addition, the AUDICOR® report includes specific diagnostic data not available with older electrocardiography technology. If a myocardial infarction is detected, a graphical depiction of the likely location of injury denotes acute and ‘age undetermined’ and a bar graph documents the evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy. Paramedics are able to quickly use this data in the clinical management of cardiac patients.
Click here to visit Our Technology page to learn more.
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Q: How can AUDICOR® EMS providers make better transport decisions?
Many higher risk patients arrive to hospitals via emergency medical systems. An accurate diagnosis in the pre-hospital environment may help EMS providers direct patients to medical centers with facilities designed for cardiac care, helping hospitals better manage their increasingly overcrowded emergency departments and improving patient access to care.
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Q: How has this technology been validated?
The propriety electrocardiography and sound interpretation algorithms were created in collaboration with top experts and validated against state-of-the-art cardiovascular diagnostic technology including cardiac enzymes, cardiac catheterization, transthoracic echocardiography, physician auscultation and phonocardiography tracings.
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Q: How does interference from ambulances, EMS vehicles affect the sound quality?
Specific algorithms help filter out road noise, engine noise, and vibrations to help ensure a high quality trace in these vehicles.
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Q: Can AUDICOR® be used on helicopters?
Currently, AUDICOR® is not cleared for use in helicopters.
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Q: Are there peer-reviewed medical publications on this technology?
Yes. Several clinical papers have been published in leading scientific medical journals authored by experts in heart failure care including the Journal of the American Medical Association, Congestive Heart Failure, American Journal of Emergency Medicine, and the Archives of Internal Medicine (in press). Through these peer-reviewed publications, physicians are learning the clinical utility of AUDICOR® technology and helping them improve how they clinically manage heart failure patients.
Click here to visit Publications page to learn more.
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Q: What pre-hospital clinical studies have investigated AUDICOR®?
Since its first introduction in 2003 for commercial release, several clinical studies have been conducted investigating AUDICOR® technology. Topics of interest include the use of heart sounds in the pre-hospital diagnosis of heart failure and acute coronary syndrome. These experiences have been presented in lectures at premier conferences including ClinCon EMS Conference, July 2005.
Click here to visit Events page to learn more.
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Q: What articles have been written about AUDICOR®?
Several articles have been written in both Journal of Emergency Medicine (JEMS) and Emergency Medical Systems (EMS). AUDICOR® 200D was selected as a Top New Product at EMS Expo 2005 and featured as a FANTASTIC FIND in the EMS 2005 Buyers Guide.
Click here to visit Articles page to learn more.
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References:
Bebout ED. Summary Report. 2003. Inovise Medical, Inc.
Collins SP, Lindsell CJ, Peacock WF, Hedger VD, Storrow AB. The effect of treatment on the presence of abnormal heart sounds in emergency department patients with heart failure. Am J of Emerg Med. 2006;24:25-32.
Drazner MH, Rame JE, Phil M, Stevenson LW, Dries DL. Prognostic importance of elevated jugular venous pressure and a third heart sound in patients with heart failure. N Engl J Med. 2001;345(8):574-581.
Peacock WF, Emerman CL, Costanzo MR, Borkowitz RL, Cheng M. Early initiation of intravenous therapy improve heart failure outcomes: An analysis from the ADHERE registry database. Ann of Emerg Med. 2003;42(4),S26.
Pozner CN, Levine BS, Shapiro N, Hanrahan JP, et al. Concordance of field and emergency department assessment in the pre-hospital management of patients with dyspnea. Prehospital Emerg Care. December 2003:440-444.
Wuerz RC, Meador, SA. Effects of prehospital medications on mortality and length of stay in congestive heart failure. Ann of Emerg Med. 1992;21:669-674.
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