Validation System for Digital Stethoscopes

Abstract

Stethoscope auscultation is a diagnostic method widely used by medical professionals. With the introduction of digital stethoscopes, auscultation sound analysis has been objectified, which led to an increased interest in the field. Until today, however, no standard to assess the acoustical properties of stethoscopes is available. Some approaches use phantoms mimicking the properties of human soft tissue. In most cases, however, the properties of the phantoms have not been analyzed with respect to environmental variables. In our work, we propose a stethoscope characterization system for the frequency range between 50 Hz and 2.5 kHz with a small financial footprint. We analyzed its frequency behavior over temperature, time and position on the phantom and derived quantitative recommendations for environmental variables. Finally, the frequency response of a commercial digital stethoscope was characterized at different pressure levels. We conclude that the presented system is capable to stably and reproducibly assess the transfer function of digital stethoscopes. We hope that future stethoscope designs will be characterized with respect to their acoustical properties.