A small, chest-worn multimodal sensor accurately detected the presence and severity of aortic stenosis, according to the single-center, proof-of-concept SENSE-AS study.

The technology incorporates ECG, seismocardiogram, and phonocardiogram signals into a small, wearable biosensor, said Paul C. Cremer MD, MS, study researcher and an associate professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

“With this technology, the presence and severity of aortic stenosis can be assessed within a couple of minutes. This allows for broader detection of the disease,” Cremer told Medscape Medical News. “In addition, the sensor can be worn for a couple of weeks which also allows for longitudinal monitoring outside of healthcare environments.”

The study was published in JACC: Advances and will be presented at American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Session 2026 in New Orleans.

Encouraging Results

For the prospective, single-center case-control SENSE-AS feasibility study, the researchers enrolled 30 patients with severe, moderate, or mild aortic stenosis. They also enrolled a control group of 10 patients without aortic stenosis who were age- and sex-matched to the severe aortic stenosis group. Mean participant age was 77.8 years and 55% were women.

The researchers placed the sensor immediately after an echocardiographic examination.

Results showed sensor-derived aortic valve acceleration time strongly correlated with Doppler-derived acceleration time (P < .001). Increasing aortic stenosis severities also led to progressively longer acceleration time in the control group.

The researchers also found machine-learning models reasonably predicted peak aortic valve velocity from unseen patient data (P < .001).

Among four patients who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement during follow-up, sensor recordings captured the expected postprocedural physiologic improvements, including reductions in murmur intensity, acceleration time, and aortic valve maximal transvalvular velocity, the researchers reported.

“Overall, we were impressed with the robust results provided from this small, wearable sensor,” Cremer said. “These findings need to be validated in a larger cohort, but the results are encouraging.”

Nanshu Lu, PhD, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told Medscape Medical News these findings are exciting because they suggest wearables may start providing useful hemodynamic information for valve disease screening and follow-up, not just fitness-style monitoring.

“It also fits the broader vision of our ongoing ARPA-H project — ‘CHD: Eliminating Out-of-Hospital Adverse Events for Everyone with Congenital Heart Disease’ — which is pushing continuous, noninvasive multimodal monitoring toward clinically actionable assessment,” said Lu, who was not involved with the study. “This study is still an early proof of concept, but it is a very encouraging step.”

An Early Warning Tool

Lu, who aims to develop clinical-grade wearable sensors in her research, sees this sensor as a way to make screening and longitudinal monitoring more accessible, especially between echocardiography visits or in settings where imaging is less available.

“My hope is that wearable sensors can serve as an early warning tool that helps identify patients who need closer evaluation sooner,” she said.

Cremer added that the cardiology community knows how to treat aortic stenosis, so the focus now needs to shift to more effective detection and diagnosis.

“Our sensor facilitates a lower-cost and more broadly accessible approach to address this unmet clinical need,” he said.

Cremer reported relationships with Boston Scientific, CardiolRx Therapeutics, Cleerly Health, GE Healthcare, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Monte Rosa Therapeutics, and Ventyx Biosciences. Lu reported having no relevant financial relationships.

Brian Ellis is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Southwest Virginia.