A new phonocardiographic recording system

Describes a new system for recording, processing, and analyzing heart sounds. The equipment consists of a separate handheld electronic stethoscope, headphones connected to the stethoscope, personal computer with sound handling capabilites, and special software for recording and analyzing the heart sounds. The developed system enables various processes and studies of the heart sounds and murmurs in a wide frequency spectrum from 20 Hz to 22 kHz. According to the authors' experience the system is helpful in screening of the murmurs of children. In addition, the authors think the system would also be helpful in evaluation and follow up of valve defects of adults, particularly in cases when there is no possibility to ultrasound examinations. Further studies to evaluate the clinical value of the system are in progress.