Image: The Digiscope (Photo courtesy of Queen Mary, University of London).

A revolutionary digital stethoscope uses computer-based technology to synchronize captured sounds with those of a human heartbeat.

Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL; United Kingdom), in collaboration with the University of Porto (Portugal) and Centro Hospitalar Alto Ave (Guimarães, Portugal) developed the new stethoscope, called the DigiScope, which captures four heartbeat sounds one after the other, as a regular stethoscope. A subsequent analysis of the sounds using a technique called independent component analysis (ICA) and graphical representation of the heartbeat is able to show any anomalies, giving general practitioners (GPs) who are not experts in cardiac care a greater ability to spot heart disease in their patients.

The DigiScope is planned for use in outpatient clinics, emergency units, and other hospital departments where doctors are not necessarily cardiac specialists. Doctors position the diaphragm endpiece, in turn, on four different locations on the patient’s chest; these four separate sounds are transmitted wirelessly to a laptop or desktop and synchronized for analysis. Doctors can then compare the visual graphs with “normal” readings, save them for further study, or transmit them for a second opinion with an expert. The technology was unveiled at the 36th International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, held during May 2011 in Prague (Czech Republic).

“It’s the multidisciplinary character of this exciting international collaboration that has enabled it to produce such a promising outcome,” said lead investigator Prof. Mark Plumbley, MA, PhD, MIET, MIEEE, of the QMUL School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science. “Two prototype DigiScopes are already in use to test their capabilities. The development will not remove the need for specialist cardiac units; it will simply make it easier to identify potential heart problems at an earlier stage.”

Guangzhou Jia Yu medical equipment Limited