The first wireless electronic stethoscope for medical use is presented in the main European Health, MEDICA, that it´s being held in Düsseldorf (Germany), from the 16th to the 19th of November. This smart stethoscope created by ekuore, a Valencian Company, is capable of connect and to amplify 20 times the sound of the heart and lungs removing undesirable sounds, adapting the sound of auscultation thanks to a volume control.
The project recently received the support of the European Commission, which it has chosen this company as one of the winners of Horizon 2020 program, in the section: Clinical research for the validation of biomarkers and diagnostic medical devices, with which the European Commission finances the most promising projects of innovation and research, and its distribution will start in 2016 However, the company, integrated by a group of young engineers, hopes to get the attention of new investors, which will allow them to continue researching and producing new products.
For Ruben Lopez, Ekuore CEO, the main advantage of this devices, named eKuore pro, is that stands out the possibility of recording, processing or sharing the auscultation with other health care professionals in a fast and easy way. Recording the auscultation improves the efficacy both on the patient´s diagnosis and on monitoring the medical treatment process, it allows it to have a second professional opinion, to check it against a database or compare the patient status in different periods of time in a really objective way, something unthinkable to do with a traditional stethoscope.
Processing the results offers numerous advantages, as it isolates the fragment that interests more, increases it, or compares it with results from before. Also it will be able to share quickly the sound of the auscultation through audio file transferring.
Mainly, <said, Ruben Lopez>, this stethoscope will be useful for doctors of primary care, nurses, paediatricians or pulmonologists, because it enables them to offer a diagnosis more accurate at a lower cost. Likewise, it will contribute to improve the efficiency on health care staff, such as on chronic patients’ treatments, and in the Home Hospitalization Service, since it will avoid unnecessary displacements. Because it won´t be necessary the presence of a professional specialist, the nurses could do and send the auscultation in few seconds, and Ekuore will process it.
Another benefit is that it opens the possibility of replacing the chetpiece of the auscultation, which will be a big saving for some specialists because in some cases, they need to have different stethoscopes depending on the type of patient. Besides the possibility of regulating the volume of auscultation it helps health professionals who have trouble hearing a sound fitting their needs so they can make a more effective diagnosis. In addition, the data recorded can be stored through an app that process the auscultation and it´s capable of applying some filters with one only click.
As for the cardiologist, even though they have more sophisticated tools for diagnosing, thanks to this technology they can select derivate cases of primary care which they need to pay more attention. This allows them to remove unnecessary follow up appointment and to improve the efficiency of the sanitary system.
Telemedicine improvement
The Spanish company wants to revolutionize the telemedicine (mhealth) not only through this tool, but also with new devices, that will mean a great advance, but they´re still on the developing stage.
In this sense, Ruben Lopez commented that “we are developing a cloud platform which will collect different physiological parameters form different devices, but at this moment is too early to say more about that, we´ll offer it in a near future”
About ekuore
EKuore is the dream of 4 young engineers that in 2012 were convinced that the mhealth is the new way of healthcare. Thanks to this fantastic team the project has obtained some recognition and the trust of different organisms, winning the Spin Off Contest of Malaga University in 2012, the first edition of Lanzadera Proyect, and in 2014, The Horizon 2020 program of the European commission.
Nowadays, its first product, ekuore, a wireless electronic stethoscope aimed at veterinary field, already on the market, with customers in different countries worlswide from South America to Japan, through European countries like England or Italy and countries from the Arab Emirates.
