Calling herself an “accidental entrepreneur”, Dr Lam shares that the idea for this was sparked when Hare’s own echocardiogram resulted in two readings—one stated that it was normal and the other, that it wasn’t—from two different doctors. A “retired” entrepreneur who had grown his last founded company, eDreams, to the IPO stage, Hare realised that it would be possible to harness machine learning to speed up the analysis of echocardiograms, which typically requires doctors to manually measure every image they receive to detect heart disease.

“Ultrasound screening of the heart (or echocardiography) is the safest and most commonly used tool to image the heart. And using AI to automate the reading of the echocardiogram enables doctors to generate reports faster, with precision and with full control—so patients can get an immediate answer instead of waiting,” says Dr Lam. “How the AI algorithms work to read the ultrasound is analogous to the way other AI software reads an ECG (electrocardiogram), say, on the Apple watch. This is the step needed to democratise this very safe tool in the fight against heart disease.”

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She admits that as a practising doctor, she initially had misgivings about the technology too. “I understand how doctors feel when I show them the software because they feel exactly how I felt—which is that there is no way to automate what I do. But when you break it down, you actually realise that it can be done,” she says with a laugh. “And instead of spending so much time doing manual measurements for a job that can be automated, I could have more time to spend with patients or do more complex tasks that cannot be automated.”

Last September, following multiple trials with global pharmaceutical partners and a validation study at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School, the software received US Food and Drug Administration approval for clinical use in the US. She attributes this success to the “powerful combination” of herself, an academic and a doctor, and her husband, an entrepreneur.

“I’m strongly defensive of the hospital system and I understand what doctors need, but I’m not necessarily a good business person. As an innovator, James opened my eyes to the inefficiencies in the way we doctors were doing things, which led to the development of a product that would enhance the work that doctors do—by cutting down the manual, error-prone, repetitive work and leaving us with more time to spend with patients,” she says.

And while the couple are excited about the potential of their medtech innovation, they are also careful to set boundaries so that they keep work and family life separate. “Very early on, we agreed that the business is only here because we’re in a marriage, so we have to set priorities,” she says. “We wrote a manifesto and locked it in that it is us first, then family, then company. That’s how we make it work.”

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Self-care rituals: Dr Carolyn Lam shares how she maintains balance in her life while juggling her work, business and family

1. I am largely vegan, though not overly strictly!
2. We have a Friday movie night tradition and won’t schedule meetings during this time. I only watch movies that I feel I’ll enjoy a lot or make me a better person—I don’t want to watch something that will create darkness or negativity.
   
   
3. We try to have one device-free day a week where we do not use our devices. We try to make it happen on a Saturday, though we don’t always succeed!
   
   
4. I stay anchored through faith, with prayer and meditation.
   
   
5. I try to do something active every day. Besides running and HIIT, I try to focus on strength training, balance and flexibility.

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