A team at the Indian Institute of Technology of Bombay (IIT-B) has developed a ‘smart stethoscope’ that can listen to and record heartbeats even from a distance. The device is named AyuSynk and it can be attached to any conventional stethoscope, to amplify chest sounds and send them wirelessly. Also Read - Coronavirus: Fake malware-laced apps and why they are so dangerous?
With the help of this tool, the risk of health workers will be minimized even if they come in contact with the person infected with coronavirus. A team member said that the data on the speed of the patient’s beat reaches the doctor with the help of Bluetooth. It is not necessary for the doctor to go to the patient. Also Read - Virtual Games to play on ZOOM during Coronavirus Lockdown
“Patients diagnosed with coronavirus often experience shortness of breath, leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Doctors use (traditional) stethoscope to listen to chest sounds such as wheezing and crackles that appear with the progress of the disease,” one of the developers Adarhsa K told PTI. Also Read - Coronavirus: This pandemic is also delaying new emojis as Unicode 14.0 release pushed back
Giving information about the ‘smart stethoscope’, Adarhsa said that two ear devices are connected to a tube. This tube removes the noise that can obstruct the detection of disease and sends the sounds of the body. He added, “The other advantage of this is that the stethoscope is capable of converting them into electronic signals by amplifying and filtering various noises.”
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The data obtained from this can also be sent to other physicians for analysis and further treatment. The team, which is running a startup called ‘Ayu Devices’, has sent 1,000 such stethoscopes to various hospitals and healthcare centers across the country. This device has been developed with the help of clinical information from the doctors of Reliance Hospital and PD Hinduja Hospital.
