BodyTune2Clinic – Handheld system for diagnosis and progress monitoring of carotid stenosis

The BodyTune2Clinic project aims to transfer a handheld auscultation system for supporting medical diagnosis and monitoring the progression of carotid stenosis into clinical use. It is based on the automated analysis of blood flow sounds in the carotid artery, which are recorded using a mobile measuring device and evaluated using AI-supported methods.

The focus is on obtaining initial clinical application data and verifying whether individual risk profiles can be derived for the prevention of strokes.

The challenge

The previous BodyTune project showed that blood flow sounds from the carotid artery are fundamentally suitable for automated analysis. However, the focus was on research and proof of concept outside of everyday clinical practice.

With the completion and discontinuation of the BodyTune project, the challenge was to transfer the knowledge, algorithms, and hardware concepts gained into a clinically relevant context. In particular, there was a lack of validated clinical data, a direct comparison with established diagnostic methods (e.g., ultrasound), and an assessment of practical suitability in a hospital environment. This is exactly where the follow-up project BodyTune2Clinic comes in.

Our services

In the BodyTune2Clinic project, Fraunhofer ISST is responsible for the research and development of algorithms for data analysis for the diagnosis and monitoring of carotid stenosis.

The work includes, among other things:

the further development and exploratory application of the existing data analytics engine in collaboration with MR:comp,
data preprocessing, feature extraction, and iterative optimization of AI and machine learning methods
the evaluation of the algorithms in a clinical study, and
support for quality assurance, documentation, and connection to the neuroMIT platform
The goal is to create a proof of concept for the detection of carotid stenosis based on blood flow sounds.

The result

The result will be the first clinical application data from patients with carotid sclerosis. This data will form the basis for evaluating the fundamental applicability of the system for diagnosis and progress monitoring.

In addition, the aim is to show whether individual risk identification for the prevention of strokes is possible and what potential there is for future clinical use and exploitation of the technology.

The partners

MR GmbH – Project coordination and further development of the hardware

IDTM GmbH – Data analysis (subcontract) Evangelisches Krankenhaus Herne – Conducting clinical studies and medical evaluation (comparison of BodyTune system and ultrasound)

The project online

https://medecon.ruhr/projekte/bodytune2clinic/

Funding

The BodyTune2Clinic project is part of the call for proposals “Establishment of industry-in-clinic platforms for the development of innovative medical devices” funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR). It will run from October 2024 to September 2027.