C-DAC Mohali develops wireless electronic stethoscope

Tribune News Service

Vijay Mohan

Mohali, April 1

A wireless electronic stethoscope that can be used by doctors from remote locations to diagnose the heartbeat of patients has been developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) based at Mohali.

The device is something like a hand-held computer mouse with a sensor diaphragm attached to one end, which can be placed on the chest by the patient himself or an attendant. The device then records and transmits the data via Bluetooth at a nearby computer, which in turn can forward the information via Internet to any location where the doctor concerned is available.

“The dire need of remote healthcare after the challenges posed globally by the Covid-19 pandemic has thrown up a strong requirement for a remotely operable wireless electronic stethoscope,” said Dr PK Khosla, Executive Director C-DAC. It can do away with the need for a patient or a doctor to be physically present at a particular location for medical examination, making it safer and convenient for both.

Stethoscope is perhaps one of the most widely used medical instruments. It is used for listening to the body sounds by almost all faculties of medicine and has become an integral identity symbol of a medical professional.

The project was initiated by C-DAC and the team, including Jaspal Singh and Shailesh Singh, developed a unique electronic stethoscope in two variants. The technology for the same has been transferred to a Mumbai-based firm, which has repackaged the system in a user-friendly device.

“These new generation stethoscopes will be useful for accurate diagnosis and making teleconsultation more effective. These will also help clinicians in a pandemic-like situation to examine patients without going in the vicinity of patient,” Dr Khosla said.

Next on C-DAC’s list is an artificial intelligence based smart stethoscope that will assist the healthcare workers to diagnose paediatric pneumonia. Work on developing this device is already underway.

The device

The device is like a hand-held computer mouse with a sensor diaphragm attached to one end, which can be placed on the chest by the patient himself or an attendant. The device then records and transmits the data via Bluetooth at a nearby computer, which in turn can forward the information via Internet to any location where the doctor concerned is available.