ASE 2025 delivered a fully immersive experience for cardiovascular ultrasound professionals
The 2025 American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) Annual Scientific Sessions in September put a spotlight on collaboration, interactivity and experiential learning. The goal was to move beyond traditional lectures and present a fully immersive and educational experience.
Meeting co-chairs Carol Mitchell, PhD, associate professor (CHS), Division of cardiovascular medicine, at the School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Dermot M. Phelan, MD, PhD, The Gragg Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and medical director of cardiovascular imaging at Atrium Health Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute, said they wanted to make ASE 2025 the most interactive meeting yet.
“We focused a lot on ‘do-it-yourself’ sessions—‘scan with me,’ ‘read with me,’ and a hands-on structural heart disease bootcamp,” Mitchell explained. “Participants were able to scan alongside experts and get true hands-on experiences. We also brought back our ‘episodes of care’ sessions in a completely new format.”
From lectures to episodes of care
Phelan said the meeting design reflected the shift in how clinicians now learn and practice, focusing on patient-centered care journeys and heart team collaborations rather than isolated specialty talks.
“There’s so much access to lectures online now,” he said. “We wanted to highlight the unique value of being in person—hearing from experts, engaging with peers and learning through real cases. So instead of just presentations, we built interactive ‘episodes of care’ that follow a patient from the ER to diagnosis and treatment.”
These sessions simulated real-world heart team discussions using interactive technology — complete with a large touch-enabled monitor where presenters could annotate, rewind or pause imaging, similar to a Monday Night Football analysis.
“It allowed us to replicate the kind of complex, multidisciplinary decision-making that happens every day in hospitals,” Phelan said. “It also reassured attendees that even the experts wrestle with these tough cases — and gave them a practical framework to take back home.”
Heart team thinking in action
The emphasis on heart team collaboration reflected a broader trend in cardiovascular medicine. Phelan said the format underscored the importance of multidisciplinary care, especially as complex structural and heart failure cases increasingly require coordinated imaging and procedural planning.
“These are not decisions made in isolation or with one modality,” he noted. “We wanted to show how a team approach helps manage complexity and improves outcomes.”
A new QA moderator role was also introduced to keep the dialogue flowing between speakers and attendees. Mitchell said this addition kept the sessions dynamic and inclusive.
Expanding echo skills with hands-on labs
The meeting also added novel hands-on training opportunities, including a needle guidance lab using homemade vascular access phantoms.
“Some sonographers are being trained to use ultrasound for IV starts or vascular access,” Mitchell said. “We built this lab to show how teams have implemented that in practice and to let attendees try it themselves.”
The Structural Heart Disease Bootcamp was another hit, providing participants a rare chance to handle intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) catheters and practice imaging on models and phantoms under expert supervision.
“A lot of people have never physically held or used these devices before,” Phelan said. “This kind of tactile learning is something you just can’t replicate online.”
Real patients and models, including those with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and congenital heart disease, were also scanned live, giving attendees the opportunity to work with experts on complex disease states.
Showcasing innovation and research in cardiovascular ultrasound
ASE 2025 also focused on innovation and scientific discovery. The ASE Shark Tank competition invited startups and established companies to pitch novel echocardiography technologies, drawing standing room only crowds.
Phelan said the meeting’s late-breaking clinical trials and record number of abstract submissions reflected strong engagement from the research community.
“We saw more abstracts than ever before—by quite a stretch,” he said. “That shows how vibrant and innovative the echo community is right now.”
Mitchell added that poster sessions were moved to the exhibit floor to increase visibility and discussion. The meeting also celebrated ASE’s 50th anniversary, and saw strong attendance at guideline sessions, particularly for the newly released diastolic function guidelines, which had standing room only participation.
Hands-on learning defines ASE’s future
Both co-chairs said ASE 2025 demonstrated that the future of education in echocardiography lies in active, experiential and collaborative learning.
“Hands-on experience and team-based care are what make ASE unique,” Phelan said. “That’s what keeps people coming back year after year.”
“We wanted every attendee to leave with new skills and ideas they could immediately put into practice,” Mitchell added.
Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: [email protected]