Your phone as a stethoscope: can an app spot hidden heart valve disease?
NCT ID NCT07828730
First seen Sep 18, 2026 · Last updated Sep 18, 2026
Summary
Researchers are testing whether a smartphone app called Stethophone can help primary care doctors find moderate or severe aortic stenosis in adults aged 70 and older. The app turns a phone into a digital stethoscope and analyzes heart sounds for murmurs that may signal the condition. The trial compares app-based screening with usual care to see if it leads to more confirmed diagnoses within three months. About 1,000 participants will take part.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Stethophone, a smartphone app that turns a phone into a digital stethoscope to detect heart murmurs
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could give primary care doctors a simple, low-cost way to catch aortic stenosis earlier, before symptoms become severe.
- What could go wrong
- The app may miss murmurs or flag harmless ones, leading to unnecessary follow-up tests. The trial is observational and does not yet prove that app-based screening improves patient outcomes.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 1,000 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Sep 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Mar 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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70 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age 70 years or older at the time of consent. 2. Written informed consent from participant 3. Receiving care at a participating primary care practice during the study period. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Known moderate or severe aortic stenosis before enrolment. 2. Prior surgical or transcatheter aortic valve replacement. 3. Any condition that, in the opinion of the investigator or treating clinician, would preclude informed consent or make participation impractical or unsafe.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The official record
The full official record for this study. This one lists no contact details, but it is the first place any would appear.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.