Honolulu - Adrianus J. M. Houtsma with the US Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory has announced a prototype of a stethoscope to be used for patient chest auscultation in high-noise environments.

One of the big problems with traditional stethoscopes is the inability to accurately hear the heartbeat or breath sounds of a patient while in a high noise situation, such as a helicopter, a battlefield, a high traffic area and sometimes even in the back of an ambulance. Trained first responders often use electronic devices such as an EKG when available to pick up a heart rate, or simply use there hands to feel for bilateral chest movements or rough airway obstructions instead of a stethoscope when the noise level is just too high. Unfortunately this isn’t the most ideal way to identify problems at an often critical point in the care of the patient.

This stethoscope prototype runs on batteries, has two modes of operation and makes contact with the patient skin with some contact gel and the caregiver can listen with some headphone earbuds. It uses a stack of conventional piezoelectric disk elements driven by a movable piston. The idea is that it will amplify the sound coming from the skin of the patient and decrease the external noises. Using the gel you can use the device in ultrasound mode to pick up a reading instead of hearing it.

The buttons allow the user to turn the stethoscope on and off, adjust the signal volume and change the mode. Easily switching modes while listening to different parts of the chest allows the reading of different types of information quickly without having to switch devices and having to find the same position to auscultate again. This new stethoscope design could prove to save many more lives in the acute stages after a traumatic incident when being able to quickly diagnose and treat life threatening problems are key.

Press Release [Acoustics.org]