Diese Seite wurde automatisch übersetzt und die Genauigkeit der Übersetzung wird nicht garantiert. Bitte wende dich an die englische Version für einen Quelltext.

Importance of Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Early Detection of Valvular and Cardiac Diseases (IMPROVE) (IMPROVE)

12. August 2026 aktualisiert von: Dharam Kumbhani, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Heart valve disease and weakened heart muscle (left ventricular systolic dysfunction) are common in older adults and often go undetected until serious complications such as heart failure develop. Detection currently depends on a clinician hearing a murmur and then ordering an echocardiogram, which is easily missed or delayed.

This study tests whether a brief, artificial intelligence (AI)-guided handheld heart ultrasound - point-of-care ultrasound, or POCUS - performed by trained clinic staff during a routine visit identifies these conditions earlier than usual care.

Primary care and geriatrics providers, rather than individual patients, are assigned by chance to one of two groups. Patients seen by providers in the AI-ultrasound group are offered a POCUS scan and a one-time blood test at their regular visit, and are referred for a confirmatory echocardiogram if the scan is abnormal. Patients seen by providers in the usual care group receive standard clinic care. Researchers will compare how often previously undiagnosed structural heart disease is newly identified in each group.

Studienübersicht

Status

Noch keine Rekrutierung

Bedingungen

Intervention / Behandlung

Detaillierte Beschreibung

Structural heart disease (SHD) - principally degenerative valvular heart disease (VHD) and left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) - affects an estimated 21.7% of adults aged 65 and older and carries substantial morbidity and mortality, yet detection relies on passive case finding through auscultation and subsequent echocardiography referral. AI-guided point-of-care ultrasound (AI-POCUS) offers a means of systematic screening at the point of routine ambulatory care by operators without formal sonography training.

IMPROVE is a hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation, stratified, cluster-randomized trial. The unit of randomization is the provider cluster: each participating primary care or geriatrics physician or advanced practice provider, with their patient panel, constitutes one cluster. Thirty-two clusters are randomized 1:1 to AI-POCUS screening or usual care, stratified by hospital system (UT Southwestern Medical Center and Parkland Health & Hospital System), with approximately 1,088 patients aged 65-85 enrolled over 24 months.

In intervention clusters, trained clinic staff perform protocolized AI-guided POCUS using the Kosmos Torso-One device, together with a 2 mL NT-proBNP blood draw. Images are reviewed by a blinded echocardiographic core laboratory; participants with at least moderate VHD or LVEF 50% or less are referred for confirmatory transthoracic echocardiography, with all subsequent management at the treating provider's discretion. Usual care clusters receive standard care and are monitored for echocardiography referral within 90 days of the index visit. All echocardiograms performed within 90 days in either arm are interpreted in the core lab in a blinded fashion.

The primary outcome (Aim 1) is a new diagnosis of at least moderate VHD or LVSD confirmed by complete echocardiography within 90 days of screening. Secondary outcomes include downstream care processes and major adverse cardiovascular events over 2 years. Aim 2 evaluates implementation determinants and outcomes - adoption, acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility - using CFIR and Proctor's taxonomy, through structured workflow observations and semi-structured interviews. The primary analysis is intention-to-treat using a generalized linear mixed model with provider-level random effects.

Studientyp

Interventionell

Einschreibung (Geschätzt)

1088

Phase

  • Unzutreffend

Kontakte und Standorte

Dieser Abschnitt enthält die Kontaktdaten derjenigen, die die Studie durchführen, und Informationen darüber, wo diese Studie durchgeführt wird.

Studienkontakt

Studieren Sie die Kontaktsicherung

Studienorte

Teilnahmekriterien

Forscher suchen nach Personen, die einer bestimmten Beschreibung entsprechen, die als Auswahlkriterien bezeichnet werden. Einige Beispiele für diese Kriterien sind der allgemeine Gesundheitszustand einer Person oder frühere Behandlungen.

Zulassungskriterien

Studienberechtigtes Alter

  • Älterer Erwachsener

Akzeptiert gesunde Freiwillige

Nein

Beschreibung

Inclusion Criteria:

Provider (cluster) participants:

  • Physician or advanced practice provider (physician assistant or nurse practitioner) practicing in primary care or geriatrics at a participating institution who independently assesses patients
  • Patient panel comprising >50% adults aged 65 years or older
  • Sees patients in ambulatory clinic at least 1 day per week on average
  • Agrees to participate, to undergo randomization, and to permit inclusion of all eligible patients from the panel
  • Provides written informed consent

Patient participants:

  • Adults aged 65 to 85 years, inclusive
  • Attending a scheduled outpatient visit at a participating geriatrics or primary care clinic
  • Willing and able to provide written informed consent and, if the AI-POCUS screen is positive, to return for a confirmatory echocardiogram

Exclusion Criteria:

Provider (cluster) participants:

  • Serving in a locum tenens or other temporary capacity
  • Unwilling or unable to nominate an AI-POCUS champion from the clinic

Patient participants:

  • Echocardiogram performed within the past 5 years
  • At least moderate aortic or mitral valve disease, or left ventricular ejection fraction 50% or less, documented on any prior echocardiogram
  • History of surgical or transcatheter intervention for aortic or mitral valve disease
  • Self-reported structural heart disease
  • Significant frailty burden or comorbidities limiting life expectancy to

    1 year or less

  • Unable to provide informed consent

Studienplan

Dieser Abschnitt enthält Einzelheiten zum Studienplan, einschließlich des Studiendesigns und der Messung der Studieninhalte.

Wie ist die Studie aufgebaut?

Designdetails

  • Hauptzweck: Screening
  • Zuteilung: Zufällig
  • Interventionsmodell: Parallele Zuordnung
  • Maskierung: Single

Waffen und Interventionen

Teilnehmergruppe / Arm
Intervention / Behandlung
Experimental: AI-POCUS Screening
Trained clinic staff perform AI-guided point-of-care ultrasound using the Kosmos Torso-One device on eligible patients during routine primary care or geriatrics visits. Patients with ≥ moderate valvular heart disease or EF ≤50% are referred for confirmatory echocardiography within 90 days.
A single AI-guided handheld POCUS examination performed by trained clinic staff (medical or certified nursing assistants) during a routine primary care or geriatrics visit. Acquisition is standardized, including parasternal long- and short-axis and apical 3- and 4-chamber views, with 2D imaging, color Doppler, M-mode of the mitral valve, and continuous-wave Doppler of the aortic and mitral valves. Images are transmitted to a central echocardiographic core laboratory, which screens for adequacy; adequate studies are analyzed by pre-specified AI algorithms based on 2017 ASE guidelines, blinded to arm assignment. A positive screen is defined as moderate or greater valvular heart disease or left ventricular ejection fraction of 50% or less. Positive results are communicated to the participant's primary care provider with a recommendation to consider confirmatory TTE; ordering remains at provider discretion, and the study team facilitates completion within 90 days of index visit.
Kein Eingriff: Usual Care
Eligible patients receive standard provider-driven care. Echocardiography referral occurs per routine clinical indications such as auscultated murmur or patient-reported symptoms.

Was misst die Studie?

Primäre Ergebnismessungen

Ergebnis Maßnahme
Maßnahmenbeschreibung
Zeitfenster
New diagnosis of structural heart disease (≥ moderate valvular heart disease or left ventricular systolic dysfunction)
Zeitfenster: 90 days from index clinic visit
New diagnosis of ≥ moderate aortic or mitral valvular heart disease or left ventricular systolic dysfunction (ejection fraction ≤50%), confirmed by standard transthoracic echocardiography performed within 90 days of the index clinic visit. Assessed using the disease detection rate (true positives/total number of patients in the study).
90 days from index clinic visit

Sekundäre Ergebnismessungen

Ergebnis Maßnahme
Maßnahmenbeschreibung
Zeitfenster
Recall Rate
Zeitfenster: 90 days from index clinic visit
Proportion of AI-POCUS screening studies requiring further workup, defined as total number of positive screens (true + false positives) divided by total number of patients in the study.
90 days from index clinic visit
Referrals to cardiology or cardiac surgery
Zeitfenster: 2 years from index clinic visit
Proportion of participants with a new referral to cardiology or cardiac surgery, ascertained through electronic health record review.
2 years from index clinic visit
Major adverse cardiac events (MACE)
Zeitfenster: 2 years from index clinic visit
Composite of all-cause mortality, stroke, and cardiovascular hospitalization. Deaths ascertained through EHR review and annual National Death Index query. Stroke and cardiovascular hospitalization ascertained through participant self-report at follow-up, EHR review, and primary discharge diagnoses (ICD-10-CM), with additional confirmation from regional hospital claims data.
2 years from index clinic visit

Andere Ergebnismessungen

Ergebnis Maßnahme
Maßnahmenbeschreibung
Zeitfenster
Downstream Processes of Care
Zeitfenster: 90 days from index clinic visit
Composite of additional cardiac testing (transthoracic or transesophageal echocardiography, cardiac catheterization, cardiac CT, cardiac MRI), medication initiation, and valve procedures (surgical or transcatheter aortic or mitral valve repair or replacement), ascertained via EHR review using CPT codes.
90 days from index clinic visit
AI-POCUS Adoption
Zeitfenster: 6 months post-implementation
Rate of AI-POCUS use among providers randomized to the intervention arm, assessed through structured clinic observations at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months post-implementation.
6 months post-implementation
Acceptability and Feasibility of AI-POCUS
Zeitfenster: Through study completion, estimated 2 years
Assessed through semi-structured interviews with providers, clinic staff, and patients in the intervention arm, guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) and Proctor's taxonomy of implementation outcomes.
Through study completion, estimated 2 years

Mitarbeiter und Ermittler

Hier finden Sie Personen und Organisationen, die an dieser Studie beteiligt sind.

Sponsor

Studienaufzeichnungsdaten

Diese Daten verfolgen den Fortschritt der Übermittlung von Studienaufzeichnungen und zusammenfassenden Ergebnissen an ClinicalTrials.gov. Studienaufzeichnungen und gemeldete Ergebnisse werden von der National Library of Medicine (NLM) überprüft, um sicherzustellen, dass sie bestimmten Qualitätskontrollstandards entsprechen, bevor sie auf der öffentlichen Website veröffentlicht werden.

Haupttermine studieren

Studienbeginn (Geschätzt)

1. August 2026

Primärer Abschluss (Geschätzt)

1. Juni 2028

Studienabschluss (Geschätzt)

1. Dezember 2028

Studienanmeldedaten

Zuerst eingereicht

4. August 2026

Zuerst eingereicht, das die QC-Kriterien erfüllt hat

4. August 2026

Zuerst gepostet (Tatsächlich)

10. August 2026

Studienaufzeichnungsaktualisierungen

Letztes Update gepostet (Tatsächlich)

17. August 2026

Letztes eingereichtes Update, das die QC-Kriterien erfüllt

12. August 2026

Zuletzt verifiziert

1. August 2026

Mehr Informationen

Begriffe im Zusammenhang mit dieser Studie

Andere Studien-ID-Nummern

  • STU20260660
  • 95057 (Andere Kennung: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center)

Plan für individuelle Teilnehmerdaten (IPD)

Planen Sie, individuelle Teilnehmerdaten (IPD) zu teilen?

NEIN

Beschreibung des IPD-Plans

Individual participant data will not be shared at this time. The study involves vulnerable older adult populations across two clinical sites, and data sharing requires additional privacy and governance review. Data sharing may be considered upon study completion pending IRB approval and execution of appropriate data use agreements.

Arzneimittel- und Geräteinformationen, Studienunterlagen

Studiert ein von der US-amerikanischen FDA reguliertes Arzneimittelprodukt

Nein

Studiert ein von der US-amerikanischen FDA reguliertes Geräteprodukt

Ja

Diese Informationen wurden ohne Änderungen direkt von der Website clinicaltrials.gov abgerufen. Wenn Sie Ihre Studiendaten ändern, entfernen oder aktualisieren möchten, wenden Sie sich bitte an register@clinicaltrials.gov. Sobald eine Änderung auf clinicaltrials.gov implementiert wird, wird diese automatisch auch auf unserer Website aktualisiert .