--- description: Find out why Caption AI is one of the best inventions of 2021 title: Caption AI: The 100 Best Inventions of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbae1ccee97bac78f/698a1e9e457a525ce1d65b0b/best-inventions-2021-caption-AI.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 10, 2021 # Sonograms Made Simpler Caption AI by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Heart sonograms can help diagnose conditions like rheumatic heart disease—which kills 1.4 million people annually—but many poor countries lack ultrasound machines and the technicians trained to use them. [Caption AI](https://captionhealth.com/products/caption-ai/ "undefined")’s machine-learning software can help. The software, envisioned to work with a new generation of handheld ultrasound devices, guides techs through the small adjustments needed to capture a view of the heart that a doctor can then examine for potential problems. “You can’t send every single person to a cardiologist every year,” says Kilian Koepsell, Caption Health’s co-founder and CTO. “But you can go to a regular checkup with your primary-care physician, and with these technologies they can screen you much better than it was possible before.” —_Alejandro de la Garza_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6112557/caption-ai/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6112557/caption-ai/"},"headline":"Sonograms Made Simpler","datePublished":"2021-11-10T11:11:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:55:44.061Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6112557/caption-ai/","keywords":["list","franchise","best inventions","Best Inventions 2021"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbae1ccee97bac78f/698a1e9e457a525ce1d65b0b/best-inventions-2021-caption-AI.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbae1ccee97bac78f/698a1e9e457a525ce1d65b0b/best-inventions-2021-caption-AI.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2021/6112557/caption-ai/","name":"Sonograms Made Simpler"}}]}] ```