AI-powered automatic echocardiography reporting for better heart care
Official title: Toward Artificial Intelligence-enabled Automatic Echocardiography Reporting: A Study of Visual-Linguistic Foundation Model Frameworks
Funded at Mayo Clinic Rochester · NIH-11541299 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A Mayo Clinic team is developing an AI-enabled system to automatically interpret echocardiograms and generate reports for patients with heart problems.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Career grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Mayo Clinic Rochester NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Rochester, United States) |
| Project start | September 15, 2025 |
| Project end | August 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $75,600 |
| NIH project number | 3K08HL175205-02S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11541299 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with cardiac conditions who undergo echocardiography and could benefit from improved report accuracy and turnaround.
✕Less likely to help
Patients whose care does not involve echocardiography or who prefer traditional reporting methods may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This project aims to combine visual and language AI to create an AI-enabled echocardiography interpretation system that could speed up and improve accuracy of heart imaging reports. The work will train advanced visual-language models on medical image data and published visuals, then adapt them to Mayo’s echo data to generate reliable captions and findings. It is mentored through a career development award, with expert guidance from leaders in medical AI and imaging. If successful, the system could become part of routine care to support clinicians and patients with timely, clearer heart assessments.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients could receive faster, more accurate echo reports that help guide treatment decisions.
How similar studies have gone: Previous AI efforts in medical imaging have shown promise, though this work focuses on an integrated visual-language approach for echocardiography.
Where this research is happening
-
Mayo Clinic Rochester
Rochester, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Chao, Chieh-Ju — Mayo Clinic Rochester
- Study coordinator: Chao, Chieh-Ju
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.