Can a stethoscope be replaced by a mobile phone? Yes!
The Independent reports that the stethoscope could soon be replaced by the humdrum mobile phone.
Peter J Bentley, a computer scientist at University College, London who wrote a program that turns an Apple iPhone into a stethoscope has made a major advance in medical technology and created a sensation among heart specialists. The application, called iStethoscope, was developed as a “bit of fun”, and has become a runaway success after being downloaded millions of times by users across the world.
Cardiologists say the software has saved lives and brought specialist expertise within reach of patients in remote parts of the world. Heart sounds can be recorded and emailed to doctors anywhere for an expert opinion.
Peter Bentley said he was amazed by the response”
The idea began as an experiment. I had a new, popular science book out last year and I wanted to see if I could tell people about the book using a free iPhone application that did something useful.
It was intended as a fun toy but to my astonishment it was downloaded by several million people all over the world in the first six months. Then I started receiving emails, phone calls and visits from cardiologists all over the world. They said it worked better than commercially available digital stethoscopes. They were tremendously excited. One flew over from the US just to discuss it with me.
The cause of the doctors’ excitement was that the audio quality from the iPhone was far superior to that from digital stethoscopes. Have a look at this video which explains the basics of using the iStethoscope.
Responding to requests from specialists, Mr Bentley extended the application to allow heart sounds to be recorded, emailed and analysed. The application costs 59p to download, but cardiologists say it does a better job than equipment costing thousands of times as much.
Glenn Nordehn, a US cardiologist researcher and specialist in digital stethoscopes at the University of Minnesota, said: “This is the best thing to come around in terms of medical equipment for a very long time. [His] closest competitor charges about 3,000 times as much”
Bentley is now working on further iPhone applications, such as an electrocardiogram reader.
#respond5 Comments
Dr. Lawrence Kindo on February 15th, 2010
Interesting post there. Life has changed a lot in a medical person’s life with the constant updates in technology. Great idea of using a mobile for such an endeavour. With the advent of better technology like the one described, it is possible to induct more paramedics in the peripheries of our country and bring in some changes in healthcare. I am quite a fan of EMRI which serves the community in different parts of India. This service with EMTs across different parts would be greatly assisted by a device like that to communicate some important findings to the doctor at the station.
Great blog you have going here. Would love you to guest post on my blog. http://www.medicalisland.net and to share reciprocal links. Cheers! Keep it up!
avin vyas on December 5th, 2010
i think sthetho is still better! technology is for our help not for replacement
abhishek on June 9th, 2011
that’s amazing.Mobile phones are truly changing our lives. It will make a major difference in saving lives of many people.
Gwen.Raileigh on November 10th, 2011
That’s kind of nice. I wonder when all we need is an iPhone for anything we have to do. Unfortunately, this is far from perfect. There are stirred up news about this app claiming that “3 million doctors” are using it in place of stethoscopes. And I found out that it’s just “3 million downloads”. In reality, it’s just a souped up microphone – not something that could detect very important cardiac pathologies. And as seen in the video, you need to place the small microphone in exactly the right place. And it only works well for thin patients who have no extra adipose tissue that can ruin the sound.
As of now, I’d still go with stethoscopes. I bought mine from http://www.stethoscopesforstudents.com – they’ve got quality ones with lower prices. And by doing so, I even helped with a cause. Check them out if you need one, especially students.
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