Intelligent stethoscope

Patent 5218969 Issued on June 15, 1993. Estimated Expiration Date:

December 17, 2010. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.

Abstract Claims Description Full Text

Patent References

3830228

3858005

Heart detective
Patent #: 3985121
Issued on: 10/12/1976
Inventor: Hellenbrand

Electronic stethoscope
Patent #: 4170717
Issued on: 10/09/1979
Inventor: Walshe

Method and apparatus for discrimination and detection of heart sounds
Patent #: 4220160
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Inventor: Kimball , et al.

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Inventor: Bowen

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Patent #: 4270547
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Inventor: Steffen , et al.

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Patent #: 4321929
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Issued on: 12/07/1982
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Inventors

Assignee

Blood Line Technology, Inc.

Application

No. 628482 filed on 12/17/1990

US Classes:

600/523, Signal display or recording381/67, STETHOSCOPES, ELECTRICAL600/528Detecting heart sound

Examiners

Primary: Kamm, William E.
Assistant: Lacyk, John P.

Attorney, Agent or Firm

Merchant, Gould, Smith, Edell, Welter & Schmidt

International Class

A61B 005/02

Abstract

An intelligenet stethoscope for performing auscultation and for automatically diagnosing abnormalities based on body sounds is described in which the body sounds are received, digitized and stored in memory. The body sounds are recorded from a plurality of locations on the body, and all of the sounds are categorized according to specific characteristics to form a matrix of information. The generated matrix is then compared against a plurality of stored matrices using a technique similar to signature analysis. Each of the stored matrices contain information indicative of known abnormalities such as specific heart murmurs, lung abnormalities, etc. When a matrix match is found, the diagnosis is displayed on an LCD display formed in the body of the stethoscope. The LCD display is also capable of displaying a visual representation of the recorded body sounds. The present invention is applicable to heart sounds, lung sounds, and bruits. A wide variety of heart and lung abnormalities along with their signatures are described and the specific steps required for the signature analysis is described.

Other References

"Algorithm for Detecting the First and Second Heart Sounds by Spectral Tracking," to Iwata et al., published in Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing, vol. 18, No. 1, Jan., 1980, describes a detection algorithm for locating the first and second heart sounds
"Pattern Classification of the Phonocardiogram Using Linear Prediction Analysis," to Ewada et al., published in Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing, vol. 15, No. 4, Jul. 1977 describes the application of linear prediction analysis to extract the spectral pattern from phonocardiogram signals to assist an automatic diagnosis system. The diagnostic system or its construction is not described but merely suggested as an application for this technolog