AI heart murmur detection tool for dogs reaches veterinary clinics

Version 1

Boehringer Ingelheim and Eko Health have launched Eko Vet+ | CANINEBEAT AI, an AI-enabled digital auscultation tool for dogs that’s designed to help veterinarians detect, visualize, and grade heart murmurs earlier in practice. The companies say the algorithm was trained and validated on more than 4,000 annotated canine heart sound recordings and can detect murmurs associated with structural heart disease with more than 95% sensitivity and specificity. The system combines Eko’s digital stethoscope attachment and app with Boehringer Ingelheim’s canine murmur algorithm, and generates sound files, murmur visualizations, and shareable reports for pet parent discussions. (globenewswire.com)

Why it matters: For general practitioners, the pitch is consistency and earlier escalation. Heart murmurs in dogs, especially low-frequency or subtle murmurs, can be easy to miss in a busy clinic or in restless patients, and the companies are positioning the tool as decision support rather than a replacement for clinical judgment or echocardiography. That could be especially relevant in suspected structural heart disease and in cases where earlier referral, imaging, monitoring, or treatment discussions may improve outcomes. Supporting background includes the still-unpublished LISTEN study, which linked increasing murmur intensity with more advanced MMVD stage, and a separate Cambridge-led paper showing machine-learning murmur grading could help identify dogs for timely echocardiography and pimobendan consideration. (globenewswire.com)

What to watch: Watch for peer-reviewed publication of the LISTEN study, real-world adoption in general practice, and any independent validation data beyond company-backed materials. (caninebeat.com)