ArticleJMIR medical informatics2021
A Low-Cost, Ear-Contactless Electronic Stethoscope Powered by Raspberry Pi for Auscultation of Patients With COVID-19: Prototype Development and Feasibility Study.
Article in JMIR medical informatics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Prototype design and realization of a portable heart sounds detection system.Medical & biological engineering & computing · 2026Article
- Electronic Stethoscope Auscultation and Echocardiography in ARDS: Correlation and Prognostic Value for Mortality and ICU Length of Stay: A Prospective Observational Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Observational
- Digital auscultation in clear and present threat of novel respiratory infectious disease: a narrative review.Journal of Yeungnam medical science · 2025Article
- Frugal engineering-inspired wearable augmented reality goggle system enables fluorescence-guided cancer surgery.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Management of chronic respiratory diseases during viral pandemics: A concise review of guidance and recommendations.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2022Review
- A comparison of the power of breathing sounds signals acquired with a smart stethoscope from a cohort of COVID-19 patients at peak disease, and pre-discharge from the hospital.Biomedical signal processing and control · 2022Article
- Evaluation of the electronic stethoscope (FONODOC) as a cardiac screening tool during the preoperative evaluation of children.Indian journal of anaesthesia · 2022Article
- Research on Digital Technology Use in Cardiology: Bibliometric Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Article
- Cylindrical Tube Stethoscopes: The Value of Practical Equipment in the Management of Patients with Infectious Diseases.Infection and drug resistance · 2022Article
- Automated lung sound analysis using the LungPass platform: a sensitive and specific tool for identifying lower respiratory tract involvement in COVID-19.The European respiratory journal · 2021Article
- The impact of a digital wheeze detector on parental disease management of pre-school children suffering from wheezing-a pilot study.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2021Article
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10 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundChest examination by auscultation is essential in patients with COVID-19, especially those with poor respiratory conditions, such as severe pneumonia and respiratory dysfunction, and intensive cases who are intubated and whose breathing is assisted with a ventilator. However, proper auscultation of these patients is difficult when medical workers wear personal protective equipment and when it is necessary to minimize contact with patients.
objectiveThe objective of our study was to design and develop a low-cost electronic stethoscope enabling ear-contactless auscultation and digital storage of data for further analysis. The clinical feasibility of our device was assessed in comparison to a standard electronic stethoscope.
methodsWe developed a prototype of the ear-contactless electronic stethoscope, called Auscul Pi, powered by Raspberry Pi and Python. Our device enables real-time capture of auscultation sounds with a microspeaker instead of an earpiece, and it can store data files for later analysis. We assessed the feasibility of using this stethoscope by detecting abnormal heart and respiratory sounds from 8 patients with heart failure or structural heart diseases and from 2 healthy volunteers and by comparing the results with those from a 3M Littmann electronic stethoscope.
resultsWe were able to conveniently operate Auscul Pi and precisely record the patients' auscultation sounds. Auscul Pi showed similar real-time recording and playback performance to the Littmann stethoscope. The phonocardiograms of data obtained with the two stethoscopes were consistent and could be aligned with the cardiac cycles of the corresponding electrocardiograms. Pearson correlation analysis of amplitude data from the two types of phonocardiograms showed that Auscul Pi was correlated with the Littmann stethoscope with coefficients of 0.3245-0.5570 for healthy participants (P<.001) and of 0.3449-0.5138 among 4 patients (P<.001).
conclusionsAuscul Pi can be used for auscultation in clinical practice by applying real-time ear-contactless playback followed by quantitative analysis. Auscul Pi may allow accurate auscultation when medical workers are wearing protective suits and have difficulties in examining patients with COVID-19.
trial registrationChiCTR.org.cn ChiCTR2000033830; http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=54971.
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