Remote controlled bioacoustics analyzer as a teaching and diagnostic tool in auscultation studies in clinical practice

Abstract

Bioacoustics methods are very useful in diagnosis of various diseases. Auscultation of lungs, heart and foetal sounds are very important among them. It is, however, a difficult skill to acquire and develop due to lack of proper teaching methods involved in auscultation. In this investigation we developed a program to remove these barriers and improve auscultation teaching methods in clinical teaching. The transmitter attached to the bioacustic analyzer extract the sound through low-noise microphone preamp, filters unwanted sounds and amplifies only the required low frequency sounds obtained from auscultator areas of the body and transmit the signal to the computer via waves. The software that we have developed converts binary input from the sound card to wave pattern and analyzes to interpret probable diagnosis. The diagnosis could be achieved by side by side comparison of standard normal heartbeat pattern and abnormal heartbeat pattern in different diseases. With this analyzer, it is possible for the student to understand what exactly teacher has interpreted on the acoustic pattern in clinical teaching with the help of amplified sound from speakers and concomitant wave pattern displayed visually on the screen