Ergonomic electronic stethoscope with data display screen for diagnoses

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electronic stethoscope of the type that comprises a casing, an electronic card, a battery, a device and a non-volatile memory. It comprises a casing with an ergonomic handle having curved contours that allows prolonged use of same during long working days; an auscultation bell located on the casing; a screen located on the casing for showing questions to rule out illnesses, possible diagnoses and information on clinical pictures; a volume knob for modifying and listening in real time to the auscultation sounds which are shown on the screen; buttons for navigating the screen and recording the sounds to later send them to a server; and a wireless communication module located on the electronic card. Said features allow the electronic stethoscope to be used constantly over the course of long working days when the internet connection is unstable or non-existent, since it saves the auscultation data in a removable non-volatile memory for subsequent synchronisation with the patient's clinical picture.

Description

[0001] ERGONOMIC ELECTRONIC STETHOSCOPE WITH DATA DISPLAY FOR DIAGNOSTICS

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The following invention is developed in the technical field of human sound monitoring, specifically, in the use of electronic stethoscopes and artificial intelligence for the analysis of physiological data over time.

[0004] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0005] Auscultation has been, throughout the history of medicine, one of the most used practices to diagnose pulmonary diseases, especially since René Laenec (1816) invented the first stethoscope; and even more so, thanks to the contribution of David Littmann (1960), reinventing the stethoscope and turning it into a great diagnostic tool.

[0006] With the help of various inventors in the field, a point has been reached in the world of medical devices where telemedicine and archiving data on the web are possible for real-time consultation with only web access.

[0007] Document WO2013086112A1, titled “Electronic Stethoscopes with User-Selectable Digital Filters,” describes an electronic stethoscope with a microphone, controller module, display, and buttons, featuring a user interface that allows the user to select the desired digital filter. While this document demonstrates the feasibility of an electronic stethoscope, it presents the problem of not being able to store data, the volume cannot be easily adjusted, and it lacks a novel design that would make it more suitable for extended work sessions. Therefore, this invention attempts to address this existing problem in the electronic stethoscope market.

[0008] DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The purpose of this utility model is to provide the health professional with the recording of lung sounds for later synchronization with the cloud, while maintaining an ergonomic shape allowing for extended use.

[0010] The solution is an oval-shaped electronic stethoscope with a neck-type handle that allows it to be held with one hand to facilitate auscultation work due to its ergonomic shape, in addition to allowing the recording of information for later synchronization with the patient's clinical picture, which is particularly good for long working days where internet access may be intermittent or non-existent.

[0011] Regarding ergonomics, a study was conducted based on user analysis of various remote controls operated by hand to determine which offered the greatest comfort and freedom of movement, thus influencing the shape of the sound capture device. Of the seven analyzed, the two most comfortable were one measuring 12 cm and another featuring curves for improved grip, especially during extended use. Therefore, a casing was designed to meet these two requirements while also being large enough to house the electronic circuitry. Consequently, the casing's shape was defined for the printed circuit board.

[0012] The utility model is achieved thanks to an interchangeable auscultation bell that contains a microphone, which in turn has a noise shield, a preamplification stage, and a filtering stage; this allows the capture of high-definition lung sounds. These sounds are recorded for a certain period of time through a Central Processing Unit (CPU), which records the information in a ROM memory. The details of the recorded information can be viewed through an LED screen attached to the top of the stethoscope.

[0013] Then, the flash memory card, along with the LED screen and buttons, can be used not only to store data from the auscultated sounds, but also to record answers to pre-set questions, allowing a matrix of information to be sent to the web server and allowing information from the server to be displayed if there is internet access; giving the possibility of receiving certain medical diagnoses from a machine learning algorithm installed on the server, with an accuracy of up to 97%.

[0014] This memory also allows, when connected to an internet-enabled device, the transmission of all information, which is automatically included in the corresponding participant's clinical data record via a web application. Diagnoses that can be displayed include, but are not limited to: risk of pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, other types of respiratory illnesses, and, in general, the capture of human sounds for automatic or asynchronous evaluation.

[0015] The screening questions include, but are not limited to: tachypnea, fever, oxygen saturation, pulse, and other possible pre-established screening questions.

[0016] The only sound that changes when the knob is moved is the real-time sound received by the person performing the auscultation through the connected headphones. The recorded sound remains constant regardless of the area; this is because, for subsequent machine learning sound analysis, the volume of the sounds is an important parameter to establish as constant.

[0017] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0018] Figure 1 shows the device from the front, where you can see the screen (11), the buttons (12) for using the device, the volume control knob (13), the switch (14) to turn the device on and off, the flash memory port (15), the headphone connection port (16), the wireless communication area (19), and the power supply port (20) for the device.

[0019] Figure 2 shows the device with a vertical view, where the auscultation microphone area (17), the ergonomic handle of the invention (18) and the auscultation bell (21) are shown.

[0020] Figure 3 describes the exploded view diagram of the device.

[0021] Figure 4 describes the ergonomic handle (18) emphasizing the sinuous areas (181-185) for a better grip.

[0022] Figure 5 describes the flowchart for collecting and sending data from the electronic stethoscope.

[0023] PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION The stethoscope of the invention comprises a box (18) shaped like an inverted pear at the front and oval at the back, made of easy-grip plastic. It easily adapts to the user's hand, especially during extended auscultation sessions, and has a precise and ergonomic shape. The box (18) has a protrusion (184) on the lower rear, a sinuous curve (183) dividing the lower from the upper part, a channel (182) where part of the connection, which includes the microphone, to the stethoscope head is placed, a hole (181) where the stethoscope head is attached and the connection to be used is located, and a widened section (185) that allows for greater stability when handling the device.The case material (18) can be made of polylactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or acrylic, materials that allow for solidity of the structure and protection of the internal components of the device.

[0024] A potentiometer (13) that regulates the volume of the sounds to locate the optimal sound zones according to the characteristics of the morphological structure type of each patient can be heard in real time or the recordings made previously.

[0025] The luminous screen (11) helps to see the information at the moment of the process, whether recording is starting or the recording time has ended, as well as the information captured or selected by the control buttons (12), all in real time.

[0026] The control button panel (12) that allows 5 main activities:

[0027] - Start recording the sound to be captured during auscultation.

[0028] - Select the sound capture time according to specific needs.

[0029] - Play the sounds present on the device

[0030] - Increase the volume of the recording sound that is not altered and remains constant at the time of recording.

[0031] - Select the type of sound to record.

[0032] An audio output connection (16) is used that allows for Jack-type headphones.

[0033] Slot (15) for flash memory that stores the data of sounds and preset responses that can be extracted and transported for analysis and diagnosis, to function synchronously or asynchronously, while included in the mobile connected to the device allows the unambiguous correspondence of the sounds and data of the participant to the clinical data history in the application.

[0034] Interchangeable auscultation bell (21), which can be adapted for specific auscultation in children and also for heart sounds.

[0035] A circular microphone (17) is mounted inside the ergonomic housing, within a stylized handle-shaped section (182) located at the rear of the box (18). This section channels sound to the audio amplifier and then to the application that processes it into audible information. The stylized section of the box (182) serves as protection and a carrying case for the electronic devices it houses.

[0036] The main switch (14) to turn the device on and off.

[0037] Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless communication module (19) for receiving and sending data to various devices.

[0038] The power supply port (20) for the device can be either Type C or Mini USB.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. An electronic stethoscope of the type comprising a housing, an electronic board, a battery, a device, and a non-volatile memory, characterized in that it comprises: - an ergonomic handle housing with sinuosities (18) that allows for prolonged use for long working days (181, 182, 183, 184, 185); - an auscultation bell (21) located in the housing; - a screen (11) to display: disease screening questions, possible diagnoses and clinical picture information, located on the casing; - a volume knob (13) to modify and listen in real time to the auscultation shown on the screen; - buttons that allow navigation through the screen and recording sounds for later transmission to a server (12); - and a wireless communication module (19), located on the electronic board. 2 An electronic stethoscope according to claim 1 characterized in that the housing has an inverted pear shape with greater width at the top and a protrusion (184) at the lower rear. 3 An electronic stethoscope according to claim 1 characterized in that it has sound filters on the electronic board (19) which are based on electronic chips. 4 An electronic stethoscope according to claim 1 characterized in that the electronic board comprises a wireless communication module(19) with Bluetooth and WiFi capability. 5 An electronic stethoscope according to claim 5, wherein the noise protector material is polyethylene foam. 6 An electronic stethoscope according to claim 1 characterized in that the bell is interchangeable.

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