Smartphone-based automatic assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction with a silicon chip ultrasound probe: a prospective comparison study in critically ill patients.

Editor—The portability and cost of ultrasound devices, and operator skills, remain significant barriers to the adoption of point-of-care echocardiography. 1 Vieillard-Baron A. Millington S.J. Sanfilippo F. et al. A decade of progress in critical care echocardiography: a narrative review. Intensive Care Med. 2019; 45: 770-788 Crossref PubMed Scopus (107) Google Scholar , 2 Marbach J.A. Almufleh A. Di Santo P. et al. A shifting paradigm: the role of focused cardiac ultrasound in bedside patient assessment. Chest. 2020; 158: 2107-2118 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar , 3 Mayo P.H. Chew M. Douflé M. et al. Machines that save lives in the intensive care unit: the ultrasonography machine. Intensive Care Med. 2022; 48: 1429-1438 Crossref PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar Recent hardware and software ultrasound innovations include crystal-free pocket probes and algorithms designed to facilitate and automate echocardiographic measurements, and connectivity to smartphones. 3 Mayo P.H. Chew M. Douflé M. et al. Machines that save lives in the intensive care unit: the ultrasonography machine. Intensive Care Med. 2022; 48: 1429-1438 Crossref PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar ,4 Le M.P.T. Voigt L. Nathanson R. et al. Comparison of four handheld point-of-care ultrasound devices by expert users. Ultrasound J. 2022; 14: 27 Crossref PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar We designed the present study to compare automatic measurements of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) taken with a silicon chip ultrasound probe and a smartphone (LVEFSMART) to reference manual measurements (LVEFREF) taken with a high-end ultrasound device.