Mediformatica - The Medical Informatics Portal

The team is designing an electronic stethoscope that will:

• Stream real-time audio from a wireless chestpiece
• Record high-quality audio data from a patient's body
• Store this audio data in a convenient format
• Use a USB interface to transfer the audio files to a computer
• Reduce the amount of ambient noise that a doctor hears
• Be simple, accurate, and easy to use!

The team is using µClinux as the device operating system. µClinux is a very small (1 MB) open-source Linux operating system that will run from flash memory. Das U-Boot, an open-source project, is being used as the device bootloader because it is highly customizable and has a small code footprint.

The Project Proposal: An Electronic Stethoscope

• stethoscope will record audio from patient’s body and store it as an MP3 audio file
• audio files can be stored for a patient’s file, can be used for education purposes, can be emailed to a colleague for a second opinion, or can be listened to on the stethoscope at a later time
• stethoscope will connect to computer with USB for easy transfer of audio files
• ambient and background noises will be reduced for clear listening
• durable, ergonomic housing of stethoscope will be designed to be clipped to a belt
• housing will be approximately the size and weight of an iPod media player
• high-quality headphones will connect to the housing of the stethoscope with a standard headphone jack
• display will show calculated heart beat, possibly heart beat waveform
• stethoscope will have volume control, mute, and auto power-off
• three listening modes will be available: bell, diaphragm, and extended
• the stethoscope will be powered with AA batteries, or other low power sources
• target price for the stethoscope is approximately $200
• stethoscope will be latex and lead-free

 More information can be found here http://knightvision.calvin.edu/bbcswebdav/orgs/ENGR/senior-projects/2007-08/Team06/index.html