Ligence wants to take repetitive measurement work in heart ultrasound, echocardiography, off clinicians' hands. Ligence, a start-up in Kaunas, Lithuania, built Ligence Heart, software that uses AI to identify the ultrasound views, trace the heart's borders and produce a structured report with the key measurements automatically.
The European Innovation Council granted €2,500,000 towards a €3.57 million project that ran from August 2022 to January 2026. In November 2025 Ligence Heart received US FDA 510(k) clearance, and in April 2026 a second clearance added fully automated strain analysis. Ligence says it is available to US healthcare providers. It names no hospital customers.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Ligence UAB, Kaunas, Lithuania
- CEO
- Arnas Karužas, MD, co-founder
- Product
- Ligence Heart AI echocardiography software
- Regulatory
- FDA 510(k) Nov 2025 (measurements) and Apr 2026 (LV strain)
- Investors
- Simpact Ventures; EIC Fund (convertible loan)
- IP
- US patent application on echocardiogram classification
- EIC project
- 1 Aug 2022 to 31 Jan 2026
- EIC funding
- Blended finance
Where Ligence Stands Today
The first FDA clearance covers automated and manual analysis of adult 2D transthoracic echocardiography images and followed validation at an independent US core laboratory. The second, in April 2026, added fully automated left ventricular global longitudinal strain; Ligence said version 4.0.0 is "available immediately for US healthcare providers". Its news page reports validation studies, including one published by Wiley and one from John Paul II Hospital in Krakow, but no sales figures or customer names.
The Technology: Measuring the Heart Automatically
Ligence Heart classifies the standard echocardiographic views, detects the cardiac cycle, identifies anatomical borders and tracks contours to compute measurements such as chamber sizes and strain. In a study of 164 patients with valve disease at the University Clinic of TU Dresden, presented at the EuroEcho congress, Ligence reported that its measurements of left ventricular mass agreed more closely with CT scans than those of experienced cardiologists.
"By automating view classification and contour tracking, we are removing that friction."
Arnas Karužas, CEO, Ligence, April 2026What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The project promised "AI-driven cardiac ultrasound analysis". The CORDIS report, covering August 2023 to April 2024, describes software optimisation, automated strain and Doppler features, a US patent application, and commercialisation "with the leading hospitals" in the US and UK, without numbers. The FDA clearances came in the months around the project's end.
- Automated echo analysisDeliveredLigence Heart v4.
- Regulatory clearanceDeliveredTwo FDA 510(k)s.
- Clinical validationDeliveredDresden, Krakow studies.
- Paying hospitalsNot shownNone named.
What Has Happened Since the Award
The Money
The award was blended finance. Ligence announced a €3 million seed round led by Simpact Ventures, with the EIC Fund participating through a convertible loan, to prepare for FDA clearance. Its revenue is not public.
What cannot be checked
Which hospitals use Ligence Heart, whether it holds a CE mark for Europe, its revenue and the size of the EIC Fund's loan are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
Two FDA clearances are a notable result for a small Lithuanian start-up. Its commercial push so far is in the US. Whether European cardiology departments adopt it depends on EU certification, which Ligence does not mention in its recent news.
What the project promised
AI-driven analysis of cardiac ultrasound.
What the record shows
Two FDA clearances, published validation and a seed round with the EIC Fund; no named customers.
The Verdict
Cleared for market, sales still to show
The EIC project took Ligence to regulatory clearance in the United States, a clear technical success. The commercial story, which hospitals pay and how much, is not yet public.
Ligence has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on company statements and EU project data, linked throughout.
