Doctors will soon have access to an artificial intelligence program that identifies patterns in electrocardiograms, or ECGs, that humans often miss. This tool is now available for free to physicians.
The program made a significant difference in the case of Louie Quiros, a 45-year-old man living in Queens. In February 2025, Mr. Quiros appeared in an emergency room, troubled by coughing up blood and difficulty breathing. Despite his symptoms, a chest X-ray was clear, and his fast heart rate persisted. His ECG revealed abnormalities, but nothing definitive for diagnosis.
Mr. Quiros’s recent exposure to wildfire smoke in California led the emergency room staff to recommend asthma treatment. Fortunately, the hospital, part of NewYork-Presbyterian’s system, uses the AI program EchoNext, which scans patient ECGs for heart damage indicators. Researchers at the hospital were assessing its effectiveness in a clinical trial.
EchoNext was created by Dr. Pierre Elias, a cardiologist and director at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Dr. Elias and his team ensure that the program evaluates an ECG just minutes after testing. Collectively, they analyze about 500,000 ECGs annually. Dr. Elias also launched Pathway Labs to offer EchoNext commercially.
In Mr. Quiros’s case, EchoNext spotted signs of severe heart damage on the ECG. Doctors called him back a week later for an echocardiogram, which showed his heart was malfunctioning, pumping only 10 percent of blood with each beat. Additionally, his mitral valve was leaking blood back into his heart.
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