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| StethoMe .. bluetooth stethoscope |
Polish Telemedicine Innovation Company (StethoMe) has developed a wireless artificial intelligence stethoscope.
CEO Wojciech Radomski hopes StethoMe will someday be as popular as a home thermometer.
The device is connected to a smartphone via Bluetooth and uses an advanced microphone array to isolate the sound in the patient's chest from all external noise.
Up to 75% of doctor visits are unnecessary, Radomsky said. Some of these patients are healthy and fall ill after the visit. Home monitoring can provide tools that do not endanger a patient's health.
StethoMe's early work focused on children. From coughing to bronchitis to pneumonia, their respiratory illnesses often progress at an alarming rate, resulting in the death of more than 800,000 children under the age of five each year.
The device automatically detects when it comes into contact with the skin and there is a support app to guide parents through the diagnostic process and guide them to where to put pressure on the device on the child. Collect data.
The algorithm analyzes each recording and waits for a low, hoarse noise - the sound that a doctor hears through a stethoscope could be a sign of disease.
The app does not provide a straightforward diagnosis, but it does warn the user that expert advice may be required.
"If we can see the exact model of the plane flying from sound alone, then we will be able to model what is going on in the lungs," said Radomsky.
The latest research from StethoMe shows that the algorithm has an average accuracy of 39%, which is better than that of GPs.
The company is currently working on obtaining approval from the US Food and Drug Administration and bringing the device to the entire European market.
Alan Smith, professor of child health at the University of Nottingham, said: We need to find new ways to help children with respiratory illnesses stay healthy while protecting them from the risk of corona infection.
He added, "This means that we will lose a lot of information due to personal consultations." Radomsky hopes that StethoMe can fix that by providing doctors with another resource.
Doctors can access digital dashboards for patient data and use algorithms to identify potential areas of interest. You can also listen to the original recordings made by the device.
This feature turns out to be especially useful during a pandemic, as conventional medical headphones can jeopardize doctors' personal protective equipment and allow doctors to pair the device with bluetooth headsets to more easily hear a patient's lungs. .
Ladowski believes StethoMe can be used to monitor patients with mild illnesses or provide an early warning system for regular inspections in places like nursing homes.
He said, "Our dream is to have StethoMe in every household, which means a lot of costs, a lot of unnecessary traffic and a lot of life for service providers."