Wearable Stethoscope Patch Monitors Respiratory Issues Over Extended Periods

Traditional stethoscopes can detect respiratory conditions, but they only provide insights during short examinations by healthcare professionals. A new wearable device, however, can offer a more comprehensive understanding by monitoring a patient’s breathing continuously over several days.

Introducing the Lung-Sound-Monitoring-Patch (LSMP)

The research team, led by postdoctoral scientist Kyoung-Ryul Lee from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, developed the prototype Lung-Sound-Monitoring-Patch (LSMP), which functions similarly to a stethoscope but is designed to be worn on the skin for up to five days. The patch offers a prolonged and detailed respiratory analysis.

This small, millimeter-thin device includes several components: a unidirectional MEMS microphone that faces downward, a microcontroller unit, a Bluetooth LE module, a flexible printed circuit board, and a lithium-polymer battery.The design encloses these electronic components in a waterproof 3D-printed casing made from biocompatible resin.

Placed on the patient’s back (between the spine and a shoulder blade), the patch continuously records sounds produced by the lungs and airways as the person breathes.An AI-powered algorithm processes these sounds in real time, training on respiratory data from both healthy individuals and those with various respiratory conditions.

Wireless Data Transmission for Seamless Monitoring

The device wirelessly transmits the data to an iPhone running a dedicated app, which then analyzes, records, and displays the information. This process does not require any specialized healthcare professionals to be present during the monitoring, allowing patients to go about their daily routines while wearing the device.

The team has tested the LSMP on a diverse group of individuals so far, including two healthy adults, two infants with asthma, and five seniors with COPD. In every test, the device was able to distinguish between normal breathing and problematic respiratory sounds, such as various types of wheezing. It also accurately separated respiratory sounds from cardiac activity, which it can also monitor.

Looking ahead, the researchers plan to refine the device further, particularly by improving its ability to filter out unwanted background noise, such as that generated by body movements.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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