Key result
Multimodal non-invasive phenotyping detects key echocardiographic abnormalities with AUCs up to ~0.80.
Why the study?
Whether a single synchronized multimodal acquisition of ECG, PCG, ICG, and SCG can classify echocardiographic abnormalities across distinct ventricular, atrial, diastolic, and valvular functional domains remained unclear.
Does synchronized multimodal electromechanical acquisition (ECG/PCG/ICG/SCG) accurately classify echocardiographic abnormalities across ventricular, atrial, diastolic, and valvular domains in a prospective observational cohort?
Cohort (n=1,069)
No
Does synchronized multimodal electromechanical acquisition (ECG/PCG/ICG/SCG) accurately classify echocardiographic abnormalities across ventricular, atrial, diastolic, and valvular domains in a prospective observational cohort?
Synchronized multimodal electromechanical phenotyping (ECG/PCG/ICG/SCG) can non-invasively classify six distinct echocardiographic abnormalities with moderate-to-high accuracy (AUC 0.72–0.85), supporting its potential for non-imaging triage and early detection of cardiac dysfunction.
May aid RV dysfunction detection in low-comorbidity patients; leaves open prospective validation before clinical adoption.
Background Cardiac dysfunction is characterised by coordinated electromechanical disturbances. Synchronized acquisition of electrocardiography (ECG), phonocardiography (PCG), impedance cardiography (ICG), and seismocardiography (SCG) enables simultaneous assessment of electrical, mechanical, and haemodynamic domains. Whether a single multimodal acquisition can classify echocardiographic abnormalities across distinct functional domains remains unclear. Objective To evaluate whether integrated multimodal feature sets discriminate echocardiographic abnormalities across ventricular, atrial, diastolic, and valvular domains, and whether performance improves when controls are restricted to a low-comorbidity subgroup, supporting target-specific rather than non-specific cardiovascular signatures. Methods A total of 1069 participants from a prospective single-centre observational cohort underwent synchronized ECG/PCG/ICG/SCG acquisition, standard ECG, and comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography. A multimodal feature space was constructed spanning electrical, haemodynamic, and cross-modal coupling domains. Target echocardiographic findings included LV systolic dysfunction, RV strain, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) ≤17 mm, severe left atrial (LA) enlargement, advanced diastolic dysfunction, and tricuspid regurgitation. For each target, logistic regression models were trained and cross-validated on the integrated feature set. Models were evaluated in the full cohort and with controls restricted to a predefined low-comorbidity subgroup (excluding ischaemic heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and other major comorbidities). Results In the full cohort, multimodal models discriminated all six targets (AUC 0.72 – 0.80) despite low prevalences of 6 – 13 % and a high level of comorbity. Restricting the controls to the low-comorbidity subgroup improved AUC of all targerts to 0.83 – 0.85. Performance gains were target-dependent, with the largest improvement observed for TAPSE ≤17 mm (+ 0.14; 0.72 to 0.85) and the smallest for tricuspid regurgitation (+ 0.07). Conclusion Synchronized multimodal electromechanical acquisition enables non-invasive classification of echocardiographic abnormalities across six functional domains. Improved discrimination after restricting controls to a low-comorbidity subgroup supports the presence of target-specific rather than merely non-specific cardiovascular signatures. These findings support prospective validation of multimodal electromechanical phenotyping for non-imaging triage and early detection of cardiac dysfunction.
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Ewers et al. (2026) conducted a cohort in Cardiac dysfunction (echocardiographic abnormalities) (n=1,069). Synchronized multimodal electromechanical acquisition (ECG/PCG/ICG/SCG) vs. Comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography (full cohort controls and restricted low-comorbidity controls) was evaluated on Discrimination of six target echocardiographic findings (LV systolic dysfunction, RV strain, TAPSE <=17 mm, severe LA enlargement, advanced diastolic dysfunction, and tricuspid regurgitation) (AUC 0.72-0.80 (full cohort); AUC 0.83-0.85 (low-comorbidity controls)). Multimodal ECG/PCG/ICG/SCG phenotyping discriminated six echocardiographic abnormalities with AUC 0.72–0.80 in the full cohort, improving to AUC 0.83–0.85 using low-comorbidity controls.
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