• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.86 no.4
• /
• pp.251-263
• /
• 2023

The stethoscope has long been used for the examination of patients, but the importance of auscultation has declined due to its several limitations and the development of other diagnostic tools. However, auscultation is still recognized as a primary diagnostic device because it is non-invasive and provides valuable information in real-time. To supplement the limitations of existing stethoscopes, digital stethoscopes with machine learning (ML) algorithms have been developed. Thus, now we can record and share respiratory sounds and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted auscultation using ML algorithms distinguishes the type of sounds. Recently, the demands for remote care and non-face-to-face treatment diseases requiring isolation such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection increased. To address these problems, wireless and wearable stethoscopes are being developed with the advances in battery technology and integrated sensors. This review provides the history of the stethoscope and classification of respiratory sounds, describes ML algorithms, and introduces new auscultation methods based on AI-assisted analysis and wireless or wearable stethoscopes.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.139-145
• /
• 2023

When a doctor examines a patient in a hospital, the doctor directly checks the patient's condition and conducts a face-to-face diagnosis through dialogue with the patient. However, it is often difficult for doctors to directly treat patients. Recently, several types of telemedicine systems have been developed. However, the systems have lack of capabilities to observe heart disease, neck condition, skin condition, inside ear condition, etc. To solve this problem, in this paper, an interactive telemedicine robot system with autonomous driving in a room capable of visual examination and auscultation of patients is developed. The developed robot can be controlled remotely through the WebRTC platform to move toward the patient and check a patient's condition under the doctor's observation using the multi-joint robot arm. The video information, audio information, patient's heart sound, and other data obtained remotely from patients can be transmitted to a doctor through the web RTC platform. The developed system can be applied to the various places where doctors are not possible to attend.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.57-63
• /
• 2012

Effective use of stethoscope is very important for primary clinical diagnosis for the increasing cardiovascular and respiratory disease. This study developed the contact vibration sensor using piezopolymer film which minimizes the ambient noise, and signal processing algorithm was applied for providing better auscultation sounds compare to the existing electronic stethoscopes. Especially, low frequency heart sounds were acquired without distortion, and the quality of lung sounds were improved. Also, auscultating sounds could be transmitted using bluetooth, which made possible to be used for the u-healthcare environment. Results of this study, auscultation of heart and lung sounds, could be applied to the convergence industry of medical and information communication technology through remote diagnosis.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.9 no.8
• /
• pp.158-165
• /
• 2009

Counselling between a patient and a doctor is crucial in telemedicine. In order for the doctor to examine the patient accurately, it needs an auscultation, at least. Currently, some video conference systems are implemented but it is hard to use them in the case of an cardiac disorder, because the patients suffering from cardiac disorder cannot be examined by a stethoscope over Internet. To solve this problem, the remote counselling service has to support real time transmission of the heart sound of the patient. In this paper, we present a remote counselling system with stethoscope. We also design and implement the system in order for health monitor to connect the patient with his attending physician for the environment of u-healthcare service. The proposed system supports a mobility for doctor and patient by exchanging IP addresses at an user authentication protocol. The system implemented by this paper can be used for cardiac patients in remote clinical setting in the future.