Four Andalusian engineers have developed in Valencia the first electronic wireless stethoscope thanks to wireless technology, which allows you to listen with more quality and, listen to the sound remotely on any mobile device, in addition to recording, storing and sharing it.
The project is called eKuore, and has been developed thanks to the business patronage of Lanzadera, an accelerator of technological projects promoted by the Valencian businessman and Mercadona’s president, Juan Roig.
The manager of eKuore is Rubén López, an electronic engineer who, like his three adventure companions -Bernardo Plaza, Jesús García and Guillermo López-, had “restlessness to start”. Lopez explains to EFE that the new stethoscope resembles a “classic” one but they have “eliminated the barrier that the tubes imply“, which allows the patient to be up to twenty meters away to listen to his heartbeat.
The digital stethoscope with Bluetooth technology
- Captures the sounds of the heart electronically and
- Send them using “Bluetooth” technology to a mobile or a tablet.
- They are collected and through a simple application that they have also developed
- You can record, store and share.
- Amplifies and regulates the sound.
It emphasizes that “it can be connected to some speakers and allows an entire audience to listen to it, something that the classic stethoscope does not allow”, while also emphasizing that eliminating the physical barrier of the tubes makes it “useful” to listen at a distance the beats of a “large animals that can be dangerous”.
A veterinary clinic in Valencia is testing the new device and according to its owner, Edgar Wefer, “it is a very useful tool” and has many practical applications, as well as an “ergonomic design, it is light and easy to handle”.
“The great advantage is that the owner of the animal can listen to what you are listening to and that is very valuable”, according to EFE because you can explain if what they are hearing is “an arrhythmia, a tachycardia, fluid in the lung or asthma”.
The veterinarian highlights the “advantage” of “being able to upload what you are listening to, to your mobile or on any device, and in two minutes you can send it to a colleague who is in another country to give you his opinion”.
The idea of designing this stethoscope arose after verifying that the mobiles “were wasted” because you can download applications for many things but there are not many external peripherals that you can connect to increase their functionality, to which it was joined with the “love” for medicine.
Currently, the first stethoscope has been improved, appearing also the adapted version for medicine, the eKuore Pro stethoscope.
- Performs a quick and easy auscultation through headphones
- Applies heart and lung filters from the device.
- Record, visualize and edit the auscultation
- Increases the sound of auscultation up to 20 times
- System of interchangeable bells (standard and pediatric-neonatal)
- Allows you to send the auscultation to another healthcare professional.
“We did a study and we saw that one of the devices used by doctors and that has been less updated in recent times has been the stethoscope,” he explains and notes that they saw “an important opportunity”. Then, they decided to move from Malaga to Valencia to participate in Lanzadera, which, according to López, has “accelerated” their project a lot, not only because of the financing but also because of the “daily guide in the area of business”. (Agencia EFE)
