Lumbar spinal surgery relies on palpation of anatomical landmarks and X-ray imaging confirmation to identify the correct spinal level, therefore exposing patients and staff to radiation, and increasing intraoperative time and cost. Ultrasound (US) assistance is being used to visualise spinal anatomy by many specialities, such as neurology and anaesthetics, and can be used intraoperatively in selected spinal surgery cases. However, its potential use to check spinal levels prior to surgery remains understudied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Most patients who have heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction, when left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is 40% or lower, are diagnosed in hospital. This is despite previous presentations to primary care with symptoms. We aimed to test an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm applied to a single-lead ECG, recorded during ECG-enabled stethoscope examination, to validate a potential point-of-care screening tool for LVEF of 40% or lower.
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