Digital Stethoscope Frequency Stretching for Infrasonic Pathology Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional stethoscopes, including electronic ones, are limited by the user's auditory capabilities and fail to exploit the diagnostic information contained in acoustic vibrations outside the audible range, particularly infrasonic waves, which can be crucial for diagnosing cardiac and pulmonary pathologies.
Innovation Solution
A digital stethoscope with processing circuitry that shifts infrasonic frequency components to audible frequencies while preserving the periodicity of physiological activities, allowing for the generation of frequency-stretched signals and graphical representations of acoustic wave energy, enabling the detection of infrasonic activity and providing enhanced diagnostic insights.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If traditional stethoscopes are used to listen to body sounds, then the device structure remains simple and easy to operate, but the diagnostic information from infrasonic waves outside the audible range is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the purely mechanical acoustic transmission system of traditional stethoscopes with an electronic system that uses transducers to convert infrasonic vibrations into electrical signals, processes them through frequency stretching circuitry, and converts them back to audible frequencies for listening or display
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies frequency stretching to transform infrasonic frequency parameters into audible frequency ranges, allowing diagnostic information previously outside the human hearing range to be accessed and analyzed
2Measurement precision
If electronic stethoscopes with digital processing are used, then diagnostic information is enhanced, but the device complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the frequency spectrum into different ranges (infrasonic, audible, ultrasonic) and applies specific processing techniques to each, with frequency stretching specifically targeting the infrasonic range to expand it into the audible range for analysis
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces processing circuitry as an intermediary between the acoustic transducer and the output device, which performs frequency stretching and signal conditioning to make infrasonic information accessible while managing the complexity of digital processing
3Loss of information
If frequency stretching is applied to shift infrasonic components to audible frequencies, then infrasonic information becomes accessible, but the signal processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the periodic nature of physiological activities (heartbeats, respiration) to apply frequency stretching that preserves the periodicity of these signals while shifting their frequency content into the audible range, enabling intuitive interpretation of transformed signals
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances the practitioner's ability to diagnose cardiac and pulmonary pathologies by making infrasonic information accessible, improving diagnostic accuracy with minimal learning curve and providing intuitive, self-consistent acoustic signatures for respiratory and cardiac activities.
Implementation Method 1
an acoustic transducer, which is configured to sense infrasonic waves emitted from a body of a living subject with a periodicity determined by a periodic physiological activity and to output an electrical signal in response to the sensed waves
Implementation Method 2
Processing circuitry is configured to process the electrical signal so as to generate a frequency-stretched signal in which infrasonic frequency components of the electrical input are shifted to audible frequencies while preserving the periodicity of the periodic physiological activity in the frequency-stretched signal
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A medical device (20) includes an acoustic transducer (34), which is configured to sense infrasonic waves emitted from a body of a living subject (24) with a periodicity determined by a periodic physiological activity and to output an electrical signal in response to the sensed waves. At least one speaker (30) is configured to output audible sounds in response to an electrical input. Processing circuitry (44) is configured to process the electrical signal so as to generate a frequency-stretched signal in which infrasonic frequency components of the electrical input are shifted to audible frequencies while preserving the periodicity of the periodic physiological activity in the frequency-stretched signal, and to input the frequency-stretched signal to the at least one speaker.