Copyright 2005 Life Science Weekly via NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net
Life Science Weekly
January 25, 2005
SECTION: EXPANDED REPORTING; Pg. 302
LENGTH: 408 words
HEADLINE: CARDIOMYOPATHY;
Medical device company announces results of study in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
BODY:
Researchers at Zargis Medical Corp., a majority-owned subsidiary of Speedus
Corp. (SPDE), announced the results of a clinical study involving hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy (HCM)
The study demonstrated that a computer-assisted heart sounds analysis
algorithm could identify those patients flagged by a cardiologist as having
apical systolic murmurs that were louder on standing than reclining, a cardinal
sign of obstructive HCM. HCM is implicated in one third of the cases of sudden
cardiac death in young athletes.
The study involved 12 volunteer subjects who had been previously diagnosed
with HCM, of which 4 reported obstructive HCM. Twenty-second recordings were
obtained at each of 4 standard auscultatory locations in 2 postures: standing
and reclining. Detailed auscultatory findings were derived by listening to the
heart sound recordings by a cardiologist who was blinded to the study design.
The recordings were analyzed by a computer algorithm that detects and
identifies heart sounds and murmurs, and provides quantitative measures of the
heart sounds. The algorithm results were compared with the auscultatory findings
provided by the cardiologist.
A high degree of concordance between the cardiologists' auscultatory
findings and computer analyses was obtained. The systolic energy was found to
correlate well with judgments of the relative loudness of murmurs in different
postures. The 3 subjects who were flagged by the cardiologist as having apical
systolic murmurs that were louder on standing were identified by the algorithm
as having apical systolic murmurs with higher systolic energies in the standing
posture.
These results demonstrate that there are detectable acoustic features of
heart sound recordings that are associated with auscultatory findings of
obstructive HCM.
Zargis Medical Corp. was formed in January 2001 when Siemens Corporate
Research Inc., a subsidiary of Siemens AG (SI), and Speedus Corp. (SPDE)
co-invested in Zargis to further develop and commercially market an advanced
acoustic technology for detecting abnormalities identified through analysis of
heart sounds. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, Zargis is developing diagnostic
decision support products and services for primary care physicians,
cardiologists and other healthcare professionals.
This article was prepared by Life Science Weekly editors from staff and
other reports. Copyright 2005, Life Science Weekly via NewsRx.com &
NewsRx.net.
LOAD-DATE: January 21, 2005
Life Science Weekly
January 25, 2005
SECTION: EXPANDED REPORTING; Pg. 302
LENGTH: 408 words
HEADLINE: CARDIOMYOPATHY;
Medical device company announces results of study in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
BODY:
Researchers at Zargis Medical Corp., a majority-owned subsidiary of Speedus
Corp. (SPDE), announced the results of a clinical study involving hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy (HCM)
The study demonstrated that a computer-assisted heart sounds analysis
algorithm could identify those patients flagged by a cardiologist as having
apical systolic murmurs that were louder on standing than reclining, a cardinal
sign of obstructive HCM. HCM is implicated in one third of the cases of sudden
cardiac death in young athletes.
The study involved 12 volunteer subjects who had been previously diagnosed
with HCM, of which 4 reported obstructive HCM. Twenty-second recordings were
obtained at each of 4 standard auscultatory locations in 2 postures: standing
and reclining. Detailed auscultatory findings were derived by listening to the
heart sound recordings by a cardiologist who was blinded to the study design.
The recordings were analyzed by a computer algorithm that detects and
identifies heart sounds and murmurs, and provides quantitative measures of the
heart sounds. The algorithm results were compared with the auscultatory findings
provided by the cardiologist.
A high degree of concordance between the cardiologists' auscultatory
findings and computer analyses was obtained. The systolic energy was found to
correlate well with judgments of the relative loudness of murmurs in different
postures. The 3 subjects who were flagged by the cardiologist as having apical
systolic murmurs that were louder on standing were identified by the algorithm
as having apical systolic murmurs with higher systolic energies in the standing
posture.
These results demonstrate that there are detectable acoustic features of
heart sound recordings that are associated with auscultatory findings of
obstructive HCM.
Zargis Medical Corp. was formed in January 2001 when Siemens Corporate
Research Inc., a subsidiary of Siemens AG (SI), and Speedus Corp. (SPDE)
co-invested in Zargis to further develop and commercially market an advanced
acoustic technology for detecting abnormalities identified through analysis of
heart sounds. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, Zargis is developing diagnostic
decision support products and services for primary care physicians,
cardiologists and other healthcare professionals.
This article was prepared by Life Science Weekly editors from staff and
other reports. Copyright 2005, Life Science Weekly via NewsRx.com &
NewsRx.net.
LOAD-DATE: January 21, 2005