Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
381067000 | STETHOSCOPES, ELECTRICAL | 26 |
20080219464 | Transducer for sensing actual or simulated body sounds - A transducer system is disclosed for detecting actual or simulated body sounds. An audio signal generation and detection system is disclosed for the purposes of simulating the medical examination of a patient or simulating the listening of sounds seeming to emanate from a live or inanimate body. A signal generator sets up a voltage potential at an electrode physically attached to the body, or electrically connected to a body, thereby setting up a voltage potential on a surface area of the body. An electric field potential sensor or a capacitive electrical sensor placed in proximity to the electrode or body surface then detects the voltage potential. The signals produced by the signal generator can represent heart, lung, bowel or other sounds and the electrical sensor can take the physical form of a listening device such as a stethoscope, thereby creating a simulation of listening to body sounds for medical diagnostic purposes. | 09-11-2008 |
20080232604 | POWER MANAGEMENT FOR MEDICAL SENSING DEVICES EMPLOYING MULTIPLE SENSOR SIGNAL FEATURE DETECTION - Power management circuitry of a portable electronic biosensor implements conditional power management logic to control biosensor power usage and to discriminate between intended use and nonuse of the biosensor by a clinician. The biosensor is configured to sense a property of the human body, such as a manifestation of acoustic energy produced by matter of biological origin or an action potential of the human body. An output signal is produced that is representative of the sensed property. A sensor of the biosensor produces a signal having a plurality of sensor signal features that are received by a detector of the power management circuitry. The power management circuitry or a processor of the biosensor discriminates between intended use and nonuse of the biosensor by the clinician using the sensor signal features. Power supplied to biosensor components is controlled based on the sensor signal features. | 09-25-2008 |
20080232605 | Multiple Communication Interface Medical Examination Apparatus, System, and/or Method - An embodiment of an auscultation device can be constructed using, at least in part, electronic components to provide improved acquisition, processing, and communication of sound signals. An input device can be used for detecting sounds, and electrical signals representing the sounds can be processed and transmitted via one or more of a plurality of substantially contemporaneously available wired and/or wireless communications interfaces. Bluetooth and/or another form of wireless communication can be employed. Such embodiments can employ, at least in part, one or more of several commercially available wired and/or wireless receiver devices, such as, without limitation, headsets and headphones, mobile phones, PDAs and/or other handheld devices, desktop, laptop, palmtop, and/or tablet computers, speakers and/or other conventional and/or specifically configured computer devices and/or electronic devices. | 09-25-2008 |
20080260173 | METHOD, DEVICE AND SYSTEM FOR CARDIO-ACOUSTIC SIGNAL ANALYSIS - A method for cardio-acoustic signal analysis includes receiving a signal representative of heart sounds and displaying the signal in a time-perceptual frequency-perceptual loudness domain representation. The received signal is transformed to represent a time-perceptual frequency-amplitude domain. The method further includes applying a human auditory modeling algorithm to the time-perceptual frequency-amplitude domain representation to generate the time-perceptual frequency-perceptual loudness domain representation. | 10-23-2008 |
20080273709 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TUNING, ANALYSIS AND DISPLAY OF HEART SOUNDS - A tunable auscultation system includes a heart sound acquirer for sensing heart sounds from at least one chest location of the patient. An initial conditioner then conditions the heart sounds through pre-amplification and anti-aliasing. The heart sounds are transduced into electrical signals by a signal processor. The electric heart signals are then tuned by an analysis tool. The analysis tool includes an interaction tuner, a processing tuner and an output tuner. The interaction tuner includes a preset tuning selector and a dynamic range tuning selector. The processing tuner includes a band pass filter and an algorithmic extraction engine which applies extraction algorithms to the electric heart signals, segments them and extracts signals of interest. Signals of interest may be correlated to specific pathologies. The output tuner includes a signal strength indicator, a diagnosis indicator, an overlapping cardiac cycle display and a display configuration engine. A display module provides output. | 11-06-2008 |
20080298603 | Medical device with communication, measurement and data functions - A medical diagnostic and communications apparatus with audio output comprises an electronic processor for processing stethoscope signals and secondary audio signals. An electronic stethoscope sensor is contained within a housing for transducing body sounds to electronic signals, and is operatively connected to the electronic processor. One or more secondary audio signal sources operatively connects to the electronic processor. A common audio output is connected to electronic processor to convert electronic stethoscope signals or secondary audio signals to acoustic output. These sounds may be produced separately or mixed. | 12-04-2008 |
20090060215 | Portable amplified stethoscope with recording capability - The present invention relates to an improved design for a stethoscope. The invention is a stethoscope with a built-in amplifier and a memory stick to digitally record sounds as well as patient information. The present invention will be able to digitally record the sounds from the stethoscope through the use of an electronic amplification system and a built in memory stick. This system will also have a USB Port that allows the invention to communicate with a computer system. The medical practitioner will also be able to digitally hear the patient sounds with a set of head-phones or through the use of a Bluetooth system. | 03-05-2009 |
20090232322 | ELECTRONIC STETHOSCOPE AND THE STEPTHOSCOPE AUSCULTATION METHOD USING THE SAME - The present invention relates to a stethoscope auscultation method, adapted for an improved stethoscope so as to be used for assisting a medical diagnosis according to visceral sounds. The stethoscope auscultation method comprises the steps of: providing a stethoscope, whereas the stethoscope is composed of a stethoscope head module, a processing unit and a signal output unit, and the stethoscope head module further comprises a sensor and a visceral sound receiver; enabling the sensor to issue an activation signal to the processing unit as soon as it detects that the stethoscope head module enters an auscultation mode, and thereby activating the stethoscope; using the stethoscope to perform an auscultation process upon a living body as the visceral sound receiver is enabled to obtain audio signals originated from the visceral organs of the living body; enabling the processing unit to shut off the stethoscope automatically when the visceral sound receiver is unable to obtain the audio signals originated from the visceral organs for environmental purposes, such as reducing power consumption of the stethoscope, prolonging lifespan of the battery used in the stethoscope. | 09-17-2009 |
20090232323 | Dual-Sensor Stethoscope with Electronic Sensor - A dual-sensor stethoscope, or retrofit device for a stethoscope, promotes anti-sepsis and stereoscopy through use of a substantially rigid, generally T-shaped tube for support of dual stethoscope sensors, wherein at least one sensor is electronic. Each sensor may be rotated away from a body independently for use of a single head or rotated into the same general plane for dual-head stereoscopy. A clinician can create a spatial, three-dimensional (3D) antiseptic barrier and avoid the need to carry multiple stethoscopes. During stereoscopy, the use of a common tube or earphones allows the transmission of sound with constructive interference of sound waves. The substantially rigid, generally T-shaped support tube allows a clinician to auscultate with one hand and monitor two locations without transference of pathogens. | 09-17-2009 |
20090279708 | ELECTRONIC STETHOSCOPE APPARATUS - An electronic stethoscope system that reduces cross-infection when examining a patient is provided. The electronic stethoscope system includes a handheld auscultation portion for picking up bodily sounds of a patient. The detected bodily sounds are transmitted to a base unit having a loudspeaker for broadcasting an audible representation of the detected bodily sounds. The sounds are transmitted to the base unit either by a wireless transmitter and receiver or by way of a disposable flexible tubing adapted for transmitting acoustic waves. | 11-12-2009 |
20090290719 | STETHOSCOPIC ASSEMBLY WITH RECORD/PLAYBACK FEATURE - A stethoscopic assembly includes a stethoscope having a chest piece interconnected to at least one earpiece, the chest piece having an acoustical sensor enabling patient sounds to be heard through the at least one earpiece. A microprocessor connected to the acoustical sensor of the stethoscope includes a buffer wherein sound data picked up from the microphone is stored in volatile memory for a predetermined time period. At least one user operable switch connected to the microprocessor enables selective capture of sound data for storage and playback, such as through at least one speaker. In some versions the acoustical sensor is releasable from the chest piece. | 11-26-2009 |
20090316925 | ELECTRONIC STETHOSCOPE SYSTEM - An electronic stethoscope head includes a head member having a contact surface for contact with a patient's body, a transducer in the head member, and an adhesive on the contact surface. A processing system for an electronic stethoscope includes a conditioning circuit configured to receive a transducer signal from a transducer and to be capable of amplifying and/or filtering the transducer signal, to yield a conditioned signal. There is also a signal processor system configured to subject the conditioned signal to an audio editing process. Bodily sounds are detected by applying an electronic stethoscope head a patient's body; generating a patient sonograph of the patient's bodily sounds; and comparing the patient sonograph to a reference sonograph. An electronic stethoscope system may include an accessory device and control circuitry to control the accessory device when abnormal bowel sounds are detected or no bowel sounds are detected for a predetermined interval. | 12-24-2009 |
20100027802 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AN ADAPTIVE GAIN CONTROL UNIT - A method and apparatus of an adaptive gain control (AGC) unit. The method includes receiving a noisy input signal and determining to utilize a stethoscope in at least one of a noise suppression mode or in amplification mode depending if the noise level is at least one of above or below a threshold, wherein the stethoscope is in noise suppression mode when K is less than the threshold and is amplification mode when K is above the threshold. | 02-04-2010 |
20100189276 | MONITORING OF USE STATUS AND AUTOMATIC POWER MANAGEMENT IN MEDICAL DEVICES - The present invention relates to devices and methods for automatically determining the use status of medical devices and more particularly to automatic power management based on said use status in electronic medical devices. Specifically, although not exclusively, the invention relates to power management of electronic stethoscopes ( | 07-29-2010 |
20100232615 | Sound Monitor - An electronic sound monitor for use as a stethoscope, a signal treatment and a method for treating the signals using the monitor. The sound monitor includes at least one transducer for transforming vibrations to electrical signals, a filtering, A/D- and D/A-converter, amplifier, a processor, a sound chamber in which at least one transducer for transforming electrical signals to sound is arranged, and a sound channel opening into the sound chamber. The sound channel being adapted to forward the sound from the sound chamber through an opening connecting the sound channel with the ambient air. | 09-16-2010 |
20100296664 | EARPIECE SYSTEM - A system and method for providing earpieces includes an inventory of earpieces having a plurality of parameters and a device for making a non-contact ear measurement. An earpiece is selected from the inventory based on the non-contact measurement. | 11-25-2010 |
20110064236 | ELECTRONIC STETHOSCOPE WITH NARROW PICKUP BEAM - An electronic stethoscope having a pickup head bearing a microphone, a sound system for transmitting sounds obtained from the microphone, and two earpieces each having a transducer for generating acoustic signals corresponding to the sounds picked up by the microphone. The electronic stethoscope may have electrical circuitry, an onboard battery connected to the electrical circuitry, an on-off switch controlling power from the battery, and a volume control feature for adjusting sound levels heard by the user. The electronic stethoscope may have an onboard sound recorder for recording the acoustic signals. | 03-17-2011 |
20110096936 | ELECTRONIC STETHOSCOPE - An electronic stethoscope comprises a local unit ( | 04-28-2011 |
20110222697 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LOCATING A SOUND SOURCE - The invention relates to a method and system for locating a sound source. The system comprises:—a receiving unit ( | 09-15-2011 |
20130028433 | TRANSDUCER FOR SENSING ACTUAL OR SIMULATED BODY SOUNDS - A transducer system is disclosed for detecting actual or simulated body sounds. An audio signal generation and detection system is disclosed for the purposes of simulating the medical examination of a patient or simulating the listening of sounds seeming to emanate from a live or inanimate body. A signal generator sets up a voltage potential at an electrode physically attached to the body, or electrically connected to a body, thereby setting up a voltage potential on a surface area of the body. An electric field potential sensor or a capacitive electrical sensor placed in proximity to the electrode or body surface then detects the voltage potential. The signals produced by the signal generator can represent heart, lung, bowel or other sounds and the electrical sensor can take the physical form of a listening device such as a stethoscope, thereby creating a simulation of listening to body sounds for medical diagnostic purposes. | 01-31-2013 |
20140126732 | ACOUSTIC MONITORING SYSTEM AND METHODS - An electronic stethoscope includes an acoustic sensor assembly having a plurality of microphones arranged in an acoustic coupler to provide a plurality of pick-up signals. The electronic stethoscope also includes a detection system to communicate with the acoustic sensor assembly and to combine the plurality of pick-up signals to provide a detection signal. The electronic stethoscope also includes an output system to communicate with the detection system. The acoustic coupler uses a compliant material that forms an acoustically tight seal with a body under observation. | 05-08-2014 |
20140153730 | ELECTRONIC STETHOSCOPE - Provided is an electronic stethoscope pick-up head comprising an acousto-electrical transducer disposed in a chamber, the transducer being configured to generate an electrical signal representing acoustical vibrations, wherein the chamber further comprises a sound influencing bell defining a cavity to provide air communication between the transducer and a diaphragm attached to an outer end of the bell, wherein the diaphragm is acoustically decoupled from the transducer; and one or more ventilation air path as the only means to provide air communication between the cavity and outside of the chamber, wherein the air path is configured to restrict air flow through the air path. | 06-05-2014 |
20140254814 | Electronic Stethoscope - A portable ergonomic compact handheld stethoscope to aid in the listening of internal body sounds. | 09-11-2014 |
20140270218 | WIRELESS ELECTRONIC STETHOSCOPE - A wireless electronic stethoscope device is disclosed. The wireless electronic stethoscope device includes a pen-shaped main body; a sensor module for data collection; a processor module to coordinate operation of electronic stethoscope modules; a wireless communication module to transmit and receive digital and analog data; a power module including a battery for storing energy; a control module to communicate information and receive operational commands. | 09-18-2014 |
20150104027 | ACOUSTIC COLLECTION SYSTEM FOR HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICES - A mounting system is provided to allow the attachment of an acoustic collector to a handheld electronic device such that sound is conducted directly to the device's microphone. A fitted case or band encloses part of the device and includes a tube running from the collector to the device's microphone. In certain embodiments, the tube may be embedded in the case, and a detachable mount may be provided to connect the collector to the case. The collector may be a stethoscope chestpiece, or an open air collector, such as a parabolic collector. | 04-16-2015 |
20150104028 | MEASURING DEVICE - A measuring device includes an audio collection module, an audio player module and a switch module. The audio player module electrically connects to the audio collection module, and the switch module electrically connects to the audio player module. The audio collection module collects sounds to generate an audio signal. The audio player module plays the audio signal. The switch module sets an enabling signal for controlling the audio player module. The enabling signal is set to be at either a first state or a second state different from the first state. When the enabling signal is at the first state, the audio player module plays the audio signal under a first output mode. When the enabling signal is at the second state, the audio player module plays the audio signal under a second output mode different from the first output mode. | 04-16-2015 |