Remote Multi-Sensor Stethoscope System Designed to Protect Doctors and Nurses from COVID-19
Health care professionals (HCPs) on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic account for up to 20% of those infected, and over 1000 worldwide have lost their lives. Although the stethoscope is an essential tool to diagnose and monitor patients, it brings HCPs within 28 inches of patients, putting them at serious risk of infection, even when using of personal protective equipment (PPE).
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, AusculSciences developed the Auscul-X, a multi-sensor, remote, disposable stethoscope which allows clinicians to monitor patients heart and lung sounds from outside the patient’s room with acoustic fidelity equivalent to an electronic stethoscope. Six wearable, disposable sensors capture the complete heart and lungs sounds which are wirelessly transmitted to an HCP’s smart phone, tablet, or PC workstation where they can listen to and view visual graphical representation of these sounds. Data captured by Auscul-X can be shared with authorized HCPs for purposes of remote telemedicine assessment and will be enabled with AI capabilities for longitudinal patient tracking.
Auscul-X is expected to reduce the number of times that doctors and nurses must don PPE, reducing personnel risk and PPE costs, while increasing the standard of care by enabling more frequent heart and lung sound examination. Auscul-X will also prove beneficial to Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities, as it can allow remote doctors to regularly auscultate residents’ hearts and lungs.
Auscul-X is currently being evaluated by both the Canadian Forces and by the University of Ottawa Heart Institute for use in their critical care unit.