Development of Mobile Health Application to Detect Aortic Stenosis

Project Summary:

Aortic stenosis (AS) is a common, progressive valvular disease affecting over 13% of Wisconsinites aged 75 and older, contributing to substantial morbidity and mortality when unrecognized or untreated. In Wisconsin—home to one of the nation’s faster-aging populations—the burden of undiagnosed AS is a critical public health concern, especially in rural and resource-limited regions where access to echocardiography and healthcare in general is limited. Early detection and surveillance are essential, as untreated moderate or severe AS carries a 33–42% four-year mortality risk, yet timely valve replacement dramatically improves survival and quality of life. Current screening efforts are hampered by suboptimal attributes for population-level screening, underscoring the need for an accurate, equitable, and cost-effective population screening tool. This project proposes to leverage widely available smartphone technology to detect AS using image-based photoplethysmography (iPPG) of facial blood flow patterns. The project team will develop and validate a mobile health (mHealth) application that analyzes facial videos to identify pulse wave abnormalities characteristic of AS. The intended impact is to establish a low-cost, noninvasive, and scalable screening approach that can identify individuals with early or asymptomatic AS across diverse communities. Success would enable testing our detection tool at the population level to reduce diagnostic disparities and lay the foundation for a Wisconsin-led national model for digital cardiovascular screening—advancing precision prevention, improving outcomes, and fostering commercializable innovation.