Towards a low-cost point-of-care screening platform for electronic auscultation of vital body sounds

Abstract

Analyzing pathological sounds is a simple test for understanding what is happening inside the body. This process of listening to the body is traditionally done using a Littmann stethoscope. Traditional stethoscopes are limited by inadequate sound amplification. Thus, if the sound of interest is of low amplitude, as is the case with biomedical sounds, detecting them is difficult. The electronic stethoscope (eStethoscope) platform is designed to facilitate doctors in the act of listening to body sounds. This is achieved by enhancing the functionality of traditional stethoscopes using electronic instrumentation. Additionally, using modern signal processing tools, the eStethoscope serves as a screening and monitoring aid to physicians and a learning aid for students. Preliminary results show that the signals acquired are distinguishable to have originated from their respective sources (heart, lung, and knee). The eStethoscope demonstrates the practicality of using low-cost instrumentation to obtain signal quality that is comparable to clinical grade signals, adding convenience to both the physician and the patient.