Patent Application
20190083056
The present invention relates to stethoscopes and a technique in which stethoscopes can be enhanced to improve upon their limitations.
Well-known forms of stethoscopes consist of an auscultation chest piece with a diaphragm and/or bell. The diaphragm and/or bell transmit(s) sounds produced by the body through a stem into flexible tubing and then into an earpiece. Despite their global popularity, these acoustic stethoscopes suffer from low sound levels. Furthermore, these stethoscopes come in contact with many regions on multiple patients' body parts such as the neck, chest, abdomen, inguinal area near the pubic region, legs, and feet. The lack of sanitation in stethoscope usage can lead to increased spread of infection from one patient to another. Hospital-acquired infections are detrimental to the healthcare system due to the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and expensive recovery treatments for patients. Although various mechanisms have been developed for improving stethoscope hygiene, the difficulty in isolating and/or cleaning the stethoscope chest piece and tubing persists. The maintenance of hygiene on the long plastic or rubber tubing is particularly troublesome.
Various products have been developed to remedy the low audio level issue of traditional stethoscopes. These products include electronic stethoscopes that amplify and transduce acoustic signals from the chest piece into digital auditory data. However, these stethoscopes have failed to gain popularity among health professionals due to their consequential amplification of noise as well as prohibitively high cost. Stethoscope add-ons have also been introduced. These add-ons perform some of the functions of electronic stethoscopes such as amplification and signal modification as well as recording and playback of the audio. These add-ons consist of a chamber with the electronic components (microphone that picks up an audio signal, electronic circuitry that modifies said signal, and a speaker that plays back the modified signal into the tube) that attaches between the stem of the earpiece and the tubing of the stethoscope. Despite being simple add-on(s) and allowing the physician to keep the original stethoscope, the complexity of the internal circuitry in these devices still drives up device cost. Furthermore, the continued presence of an attached tube means that the serious problem of maintaining stethoscope hygiene persists. Notably, although these electronic stethoscopes are capable of transmitting audio data wirelessly to a remote device, they are still unable to play the audio back in real-time, hence their continued need for a physically connected speaker and tubing for the transfer of audio to an earpiece.
From this point forward in this document, each of the following terms has the meaning associated with it as defined below:
Processing is defined as at least one of amplification, filtering, and any form of modification of the audio sample.
Passive is defined as a component that does not use electricity to perform its function.
In some embodiments, the stethoscope stem (301) is pressed tight against a tapered deformable membrane (302). This forms an airtight seal around the stem, with an aperture that allows sound waves to travel through into the internal audio channel tubing (304). The stethoscope stem is held rigidly in place by external stabilizers (303). Thus, there is no need for modular design or exchange of components in these embodiments, since the tapered membrane and stabilization arms are easily adjusted to accommodate narrow (
The adapter is not limited to the embodiments described above. In some embodiments, the sleeve is tapered smoothly or in stepwise fashion to accommodate various stethoscope sizes. In other embodiments, the sleeve is tightened onto the stethoscope stem with a threaded nut and bolt, a compression fitting, a spring-loaded clamp, or any other mechanism. In other embodiments, the sleeve does not exist as a separate component, but is an extension of the internal audio channel. In other embodiments, the stethoscope stem attachment mechanism varies, but a pathway always exists for sound waves to travel through from the stethoscope stem into the internal audio channel.
The internal audio channel (104) leads to the head of the microphone. In the preferred embodiment, this microphone is a miniature, low cost, electret microphone, but the microphone may be any device that transduces mechanical sound waves into electrical signals, such a MEMS microphone. In the preferred embodiment, sound passing through the internal audio channel will be funneled into the microphone and converted into an electrical signal. The signal will pass from the microphone via wire to a printed circuit board (106), which also includes various additional circuit elements. In some embodiments, the signal can be amplified, filtered, and otherwise processed on the board itself; however, in the preferred embodiment, signal processing on the circuit board is minimal. This further reduces power consumption, lowers cost, and increases the battery life of the device. The electrical signal, an analog representation of sound from the patient, is converted into a digital signal and broadcast wirelessly via a wireless transceiver (107). The wireless transmission can take place using any wireless technology, but in the preferred embodiment it is transmitted via Bluetooth.
In the preferred embodiment, the printed circuit board may contain at least one additional element, such as a set of batteries (108) that powers the microphone, board, and transceiver. In the preferred embodiment, these batteries are rechargeable via a wireless qi charger circuit (i.e. electromagnetic induction). In the preferred embodiment, wireless charging eliminates the need for external ports thereby making the device completely sealed and easily cleanable using a variety of disinfection techniques. In some embodiments, additional ports such as an audio jack, power port (109), power switch, volume adjustment, and wireless pairing button may pass through the device's housing in order to be externally accessible. In the preferred embodiment, the device housing itself (110) may be made of plastic or metal and may include insulation to shield it from ambient noise. In the preferred embodiment, the housing is sealed except during assembly and maintenance.
A flow chart illustrating the invention's methodology is shown in
In the preferred embodiment, once the audio data is received, the remote device will filter, amplify, and otherwise process the signal (409), including but not limited to low-pass filtration and/or dynamic amplification steps. The user can adjust the filtration and amplification, and in the preferred embodiment, the default settings are preset to optimally hear sounds of the type previously selected. The audio signal can then be conveyed (410), in real-time or close to real-time, via a variety of methods. The sound waves can be graphically displayed on the screen of the remote device (411), and/or emitted from headphones or a speaker attached directly to the remote device (412), and/or transmitted to a tertiary playback device such as wireless headphones and then emitted (413). In the preferred embodiment, the entire system functions in real-time or close to real-time such that there is negligible delay from the time the sound is produced to the time it is played back through a sound producing device (such as a speaker or headphones). The delay considered negligible depends highly on the end user and the eventual application of the device and can vary from a few milliseconds up to tens of seconds. However, in the preferred embodiment, the total delay will be less than 1 second.
In the preferred embodiment, the user will also have the option of recording and saving audio (414) both in its raw form and post digital signal processing form. In the preferred embodiment, this signal can be securely transmitted (415) to a healthcare professional, a medical institution, and/or any other third party with the requisite permissions, potentially saving time and expenses compared to conventional in-person examinations. In the preferred embodiment, the signal is also analyzed (416) via algorithm, machine learning, and/or direct comparison to stored audio clips. The software can then display possible disease states along with associated probabilities, based on the strength of observed trends and historical false diagnosis rates. The results of this analysis along with the stored audio clips themselves will be available for review and playback by the user and/or third parties (417-418).
In the preferred embodiment, patient rooms in clinics and hospitals can have separate wireless stethoscopes such that the wireless stethoscope device automatically pairs with the phone of the medical staff member who picks up the stethoscope. By enabling the wireless stethoscope component to be easily cleaned between patient visits, the risk of contamination is minimized. Several options are available for sterilization of the invention, which is critical to avoid transmission of diseases between patients. The device has low surface area from its small size, the device transmits signals wirelessly, and its internal components are completely sealed from external contamination. As a result, the device can be cleaned simply by the application of alcohol or other sterilization agent to the stethoscope head, stem, and/or the device's outer housing.
The invention has been described in the above passages and illustrations, but it is understood that this information presents only a preferred embodiment and some other embodiments; it is not intended to restrict the scope or essence of the invention. The concepts, features, and illustrations described herein are not intended to be limiting, and are subject to recombination, alteration and expansion of function and form. A practitioner of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the embodiments, implementations, and examples described in this specification and shown with reference to the various figures, are all only exemplary and not limiting. There are alternative methods of accomplishing many of the elements, features, and functions that all fall within the spirit and scope of this invention.
This current application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/312,698 filed 24 Mar. 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US17/23929 | 3/24/2017 | WO | 00 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62312698 | Mar 2016 | US |
