Echo IQ (ASX:EIQ) has won the support of a top-tier US hospital,...

Echo IQ (ASX:EIQ) has won the support of a top-tier US hospital, which has agreed to use the company’s AI-based aortic stenosis detection tool for routine detection of the potentially deadly disorder.The compact is with the Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the main teaching hospital for Harvard University.The hospital came on board after testing the tool, Echosolv-AS, across 31,000 stored patient echocardiograms.As with Echo IQ’s own trials, Echosolv-AS was almost perfectly accurate in detecting aortic stenosis in the case of patients who fell within the established risk guidelines.But the tool also detected about 1000 asymptomatic patients who were, in fact, very much at risk.Aortic stenosis is the narrowing of the heart valves due to calcification, resulting in eventual heart failure because it’s harder for the heart to pump the claret.The condition can only be treated with a valve replacement, with earlier intervention producing a better result.Patients classed as being at severe risk will get a valve transplant, but the trouble is 30-50% of patients are misdiagnosed. Females are 66% less likely to be diagnosed accurately, because the guidelines don’t consider that a woman’s heart and arteries are smaller.Unlike traditional diagnosis, Echo IQ’s platform doesn’t rely on blood obstruction measurement to detect aortic stenosis.Instead, it uses machine learning to enhance clinical detection and flag patients that may have been missed.Since winning US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval in October, the company has been honing its US commercialisation – and, crucially, reimbursement – strategy.Echo IQ chief commercial officer Deon Strydom says the ‘integration agreement’ with Beth Israel provides crucial endorsement of the life-changing benefits of Echosolv-AS.“If Beth Israel adopts this AI, the other [leading hospitals] are forced to as it then established as best practice,” he says.“This is one of the best of the best hospitals saying, ‘we need help with aortic stenosis diagnoses’.”Strydom says Echo IQ has taken the approach of winning endorsement from big-name hospitals ahead of seeking reimbursement codes from private insurers and the Medicare/Medicaid system.The Beth Israel deal won’t result in immediate revenue, with the hospital permitted to use the tool gratis on the understanding it will pay per-test once reimbursement is established.Meanwhile, Echo IQ is in discussions with one of the top five US private hospital groups, accounting for 41 facilities.Strydom notes Echo IQ has ‘approved vendor’ status, but the deal is not yet done.On 10% penetration of the US aortic stenosis detection market, the company estimates $US6.5 million of recurring revenue.Echo IQ shares this morning were 7% higher at 24 cents.