An AI startup tries to take better pictures of the heart

Let's assume you are not an expert highly trained in medical imaging. And let's assume you were invited one day to try out a new technology for heart ultrasounds -- diagnostic tools that are notoriously difficult to use because of the chest wall and because some shots must be made while the heart is in motion. When I was given the shot on a recent day, I was able to take the ultrasound in a matter of minutes with the help of software, developed by a San Francisco-based startup called Caption Health. The software told me how to hold the ultrasound probe against the ribs of a model who had been hired for the purpose of my visit and knew on its own when to snap the image. It was a little like having Richard Avedon's knowledge of photography uploaded into the guts of my iPhone camera. You can see the image I took of the parasternal long axis view of the heart pumping at the top of this page.