Clinical Scorecard: User-Centered Iterative Development of AI-Guided Carotid Ultrasound for Cardiovascular Prevention in Primary Care by Nonexperts

At a Glance

Key Highlights

• Carotid ultrasound quality and diagnostic reliability depend on operator expertise.
• Prior research reports reproducible automated cIMT measurements by novice operators.
• Manual plaque detection has substantial interobserver variability, particularly for smaller plaques.
• Evidence on routine workflow integration and use of automated plaque-detection systems by nonexperts remains limited.
• The excerpt cites a prospective controlled community trial by Sun et al. reporting increased diagnostic accuracy, specialist concordance, and examination efficiency among nonexpert general practitioners using an intelligent handheld ultrasound system.

Guideline-Based Recommendations

Diagnosis

• The supplied excerpt does not provide diagnostic criteria or recommendations for carotid ultrasound.

Management

• The supplied excerpt does not provide management recommendations.

Monitoring & Follow-up

• The supplied excerpt does not specify monitoring protocols or intervals.

Risks

• Carotid ultrasound is operator-dependent, and manual plaque detection can vary between sonographers, especially for smaller plaques.
• The excerpt states that task-shifting implementation requires sufficient training, organizational support, and user confidence.

Patient & Prescribing Data

The excerpt discusses potential use in cardiovascular prevention in primary care and community settings but provides no specific patient eligibility criteria.

The excerpt discusses ultrasound as an assessment tool, not a prescribed treatment; it does not provide treatment recommendations.

Clinical Best Practices

• The excerpt identifies operator expertise as relevant to carotid ultrasound quality and diagnostic reliability.
• The excerpt identifies training, organizational support, and user confidence as implementation requirements for task shifting.
• The excerpt reports limited evidence on routine workflow integration and nonexpert use of automated plaque-detection systems.

Related Resources & Content

• Vanoli et al. Fully automated on-screen carotid intima-media thickness measurement: a screening tool for subclinical atherosclerosis (2013)
• Nyman et al. Inter-sonographer reproducibility of carotid ultrasound plaque detection using Mannheim consensus in subclinical atherosclerosis (2020)
• Sun et al. Intelligent handheld ultrasound improving the ability of non-expert general practitioners in carotid examinations for community populations: a prospective and parallel controlled trial (2025)