Smartphone tool aims to detect heart disease earlier

Published: 29 September 2026

A researcher is testing whether a simple smartphone video could help identify heart disease earlier and speed up access to heart scans.

A University of Auckland researcher is testing whether a simple smartphone video of a person's neck could help doctors detect serious heart problems earlier and prioritise people who may need a heart scan sooner.

Biomedical engineer Dr Prashanna Khwaounjoo has been awarded a Heart Foundation Research Fellowship to trial smartphone technology that could speed up diagnosis, support earlier heart assessment in GP clinics and reduce waiting times.

Heart disease is the single biggest killer in New Zealand. Diagnosing serious heart conditions often requires an echocardiogram, an ultrasound scan that shows how well the heart is pumping and whether its valves are working properly.

But access to echocardiograms is limited, with some people waiting months for a scan.

During that time, undiagnosed heart problems can worsen, opportunities for early treatment can be missed, and some patients may end up in hospital with conditions that could have been detected sooner.

How it works

Prashanna hopes the non-invasive smartphone app he helped develop at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute could use a short video of a person's neck to detect subtle pulse-related movements with precision and reliably measure their pulse signal.

The camera records a short video while the app's algorithm tracks changes in the skin caused by blood flow. These changes include movements too subtle for the human eye to see and may provide clues about how well the heart is functioning.

"Clinicians can look and feel for these pulsations, but what one clinician sees or feels can differ from another. Our algorithm can track skin movement down to the micron level, movements you can't really see with the eye.

"Instead of guesswork, we're making this a more objective process by using a standard smartphone camera to record the movement and an algorithm to track it," Prashanna says.

His team will then build and test separate computer-based tools that could help identify three heart conditions that are common, serious and often diagnosed late: a weak heart that does not pump well, narrowing of a heart valve and fluid build-up or pressure on the right side of the heart.

The mobile phone-based diagnostic tool is already being tested with post-surgery patients at Auckland City Hospital.

Rather than replacing an echocardiogram, the smartphone tool will act as a triage step to flag who needs the most urgent assessment.

"Our goal is to create a fast, low-cost screening tool that helps ensure limited heart scan resources are directed towards the patients who need them most."

Prashanna says over time the team will compare video results with echocardiogram findings and other clinical data to assess how well the tools work.

If successful, the findings will contribute to a New Zealand-specific research database that links neck videos with heart scan results and could support future studies.

What success could look like

If the tool proves accurate, the benefits could be felt across the entire health system.

A 'digital pulse check' could eventually be used in GP clinics, rural health centres or potentially even at home in the future.

Prashanna says it could help doctors prioritise scarce heart scan resources, speed up referrals for people most at risk and support ongoing monitoring between hospital visits.

People already diagnosed with heart conditions could also be monitored more closely between clinic visits, potentially identifying changes in their condition before they need urgent medical care.

Over time, this could reduce avoidable hospital admissions, especially for communities that face the greatest barriers to accessing timely heart care.

"For people, this may mean fewer unexpected hospital visits, clearer information about their heart health and more timely access to care," Prashanna says.

Heart Foundation Medical Director Dr Gerry Devlin says the research could offer a promising new way to support earlier identification of serious heart problems.

"It could give health professionals another useful tool to help prioritise patients and improve access to timely care."