Using digital stethoscopes in remote patient assessment via wireless networks: the user’s perspective

Digital stethoscopes assume an important role in telehealth and mobile (m-) health for capturing sounds over a communication infrastructure. However, few studies have explored the users’ experiences and views on using the current models of digital stethoscopes on a telehealth network. The authors were provided with an Australian Research Council grant to explore the possibilities of developing a suitable digital stethoscope that would function at acceptable levels with Queensland State-wide Telehealth Services. A major Indian university is collaborating in this research. As an initial step, users’ views and feedback were sought for using a digital stethoscope on a telehealth platform and these were reported in this paper in a consolidated manner. The issues identified in the multiple-case study cover the aspects of sound quality, signal transmission, hardware/software design, functionality, and cost considerations. The finding of this study can assist researchers and practitioners in making informed decisions for procuring digital stethoscopes, as well as providing useful information to the manufacturers in designing future digital stethoscopes.

[1]  R. Yin Case Study Research: Design and Methods , 1984 .

[2]  Jing Bai,et al.  A portable ECG and blood pressure telemonitoring system. , 1999, IEEE engineering in medicine and biology magazine : the quarterly magazine of the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society.

[3]  R. Scott,et al.  The socio-economic impact of telehealth: A systematic review , 2003, Journal of telemedicine and telecare.

[4]  Denis Abenson A high-fidelity electronic stethoscope. , 1971 .

[5]  Paul D Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Leedy,et al.  Practical Research: Planning and Design , 1974 .

[6]  B Hema Kumar A fuzzy expert system design for analysis of body sounds and design of an unique electronic stethoscope (development of HILSA kit). , 2007, Biosensors & bioelectronics.

[7]  Zhongwei Jiang,et al.  A cardiac sound characteristic waveform method for in-home heart disorder monitoring with electric stethoscope , 2006, Expert Syst. Appl..

[8]  Josef Ingenerf,et al.  Telemedicine and terminology: different needs of context information , 1999, IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine.

[9]  John D Enderle,et al.  Ensuring that biomedical engineers are ready for the real world. , 2002, IEEE engineering in medicine and biology magazine : the quarterly magazine of the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society.

[10]  Raj Gururajan,et al.  Exploratory study to investigate the applicability of existing digital stethoscopes in a telehealth setting , 2009 .

[11]  D Abelson A high-fidelity electronic stethoscope. , 1971, JAMA.

[12]  M Haubitz,et al.  A novel multimedia tool to improve bedside teaching of cardiac auscultation , 2004, Postgraduate Medical Journal.

[13]  W. Neuman,et al.  Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches , 2002 .

[14]  Krishnan Ganapathy,et al.  Telemedicine in India: the Apollo story. , 2009, Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association.

[15]  A W Hahn On stethoscope design: a challenge for biomedical circuit designers. , 2001, Biomedical sciences instrumentation.

[16]  R. Briggs,et al.  Association for Information Systems , 2009 .

[17]  J Genest,et al.  Clinical comparison of acoustic and electronic stethoscopes and design of a new electronic stethoscope. , 1998, The American journal of cardiology.

[18]  R. Yin Yin, Robert K., Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 2nd ed. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1994. , 1994 .

[19]  Avindra Nath,et al.  The Virtues of Unique Ribonucleotide Reductase Inhibitors Didox and Trimidox for Retrovirus Therapy , 2007 .

[20]  H. Russell Bernard,et al.  Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches , 2000 .

[21]  Raj Gururajan,et al.  Clinicians’ Perception of Using Digital Stethoscopes in Telehealth Platform: Queensland Telehealth Preliminary Study , 2010 .