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- Researchers evaluated the feasibility of using a smartphone’s built-in microphone to record heart sounds by examining the quality of smartphone-recorded heart sounds and factors affecting the quality of the recording.
- Overall, three of the four transcripts were of good quality, meaning they could do more to find clinically relevant information.
- The results indicate that the quality of heart sounds is not affected by the version of the phone or the biological sex of the user, but users over 60 seem to have lower quality recordings.
- This research paves the way for individuals, especially those with heart problems, to easily record their own heart sounds at home, which improves the diagnostic process.
Everyone knows the heart-rending sounds of “lub-dub… lub-dub.” The reason why the heart makes these sounds is related to the function of circulating blood in the body.
The heart muscle pumps blood by constantly contracting and relaxing. During a heart contraction, we hear the first heart sound known as the “lub” sound, S1, and when the heart relaxes, we hear a “thud” sound – the second heart sound, S2.
It is a traditional instrument used by doctors to listen to heart sounds Stethoscope.
Heart sounds can be an important sign Heart problemBut now they are evaluated only clinically. It will be useful for patients to be able to record their own heart sounds when they are at home.
One way to easily capture heart sounds by individuals is to use a smartphone with a built-in high-quality microphone. To date, several mobile app prototypes for recording heart sounds have been developed and released to the public, including
Now researchers at King’s College London in England and Maastricht University in the Netherlands have conducted a study to investigate the feasibility of using a smartphone as a stethoscope and to assess factors that may affect the quality of heart sound recordings.
“This study shows that mobile technologies are a viable way to record heart sounds and in the future, heart patients and doctors can use them to examine the images recorded at home. [the] Presence or improvement of heart conditions Dr. A.S. Paul Lamataco-author and professor of biomedical engineering at King’s College London.
The results of this study European Heart Journal – Digital Health.
In collaboration with heart patients British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Evelina Children’s Heart Organization (ECHO), and with experts at Cell Design StudioThe researchers developed a smartphone application that measures heart rate.
to use Echoes app, the user only needs to put the smartphone on their chest and press “record”. The application has a signal processing algorithm that filters the heart sound recordings to remove any background noise.
The Echoes app asks them to provide basic, anonymous demographic information, including age, gender, height, weight and, if applicable, any heart disease.
From May 21 to October 4, 2021, 1,148 individuals downloaded the Echoes app and contributed 7,597 heart sound recordings.
The researchers found that eight out of 10 (80%) users were able to make a good quality heart sound recording. “Good quality” recording is interpretable for analysis.
Overall, three out of four (75%) transcripts could do more to obtain clinically relevant information.
The researchers looked at factors affecting the quality of heart sounds among these users. They found that the following factors do not affect the quality of the recording.
- Phone version
- The user’s biological sex.
However, the researchers observed that users over the age of 60 had lower quality recordings.
During his doctoral defense in Dr. Hongxing LuoStudy co-author and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maastricht argues that the problem of low-quality heart sound recording in older users can be overcome.
One of the simplest solutions, he said, is to teach users to use headphones to listen to their heartbeats while searching for the location with loud heartbeats.
Hospitals already have many tools to assess patients’ cardiac status, such as a echocardiogram (ECG) and
- Heart failure patients
- Follow-up of valvular patients after surgery Heart disease
- Post-operative follow-up Arrhythmia Patients.
Dr. Lamata describes the Echoes app as “a tool for patient empowerment.[s] to manage their own circumstances”
Dr. James LeperProfessor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Glasgow and Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation;
“As we enter the age of digital medicine, technologies like Echoes can change the diagnosis and monitor heart disease at home. More research is needed to test how the app can be used with current heart monitoring techniques. But, if successful, this development could put heart monitoring devices in the palm of your hand.” It may indicate an important step to take.
Dr. Dominic LinzProfessor in Physiology Researchers at the Circulation, Kidney and Lung Study at the University of Copenhagen pointed out that “it is important to identify certain limitations.” [heart sound measurements] By evaluating the patient’s data through the Echoes app, the cardiologist should come into action.
One study limitation is that the Echoes app is only available for iPhone users, so it excludes Android users—more than half of all smartphone users—from the study.
When asked if the Echoes app will be available to the general public, Dr. Pablo Lamata said. Medical news today“We are now planning the next release to include the Android version in May next year.”
The Echoes app currently only detects S1 and S2 heart sounds, and the researchers note that “the utility of detecting pathological heart sounds, including S3, S4, and murmurs, should be investigated in future studies involving patients.”
The researchers also note that the study population may not truly reflect the general population, as “smartphone users may be younger and more educated.” Further research is needed to assess the reproducibility of these results.
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