Researchers at King’s College London in the United Kingdom and Maastricht University in the Netherlands have conducted a study to determine if a smartphone can be used as a stethoscope as well as what factors can affect the quality of heart sound recordings.
“This research proves that mobile technologies are a viable way of recording heart sounds and that in the future, cardiac patients and doctors could use at-home recordings to check for the existence or progression of heart conditions,” says Dr. Pablo Lamata, study co-author and professor of biomedical engineering at King’s College London.
The quality of smartphone-recorded heart sounds and the factors influencing the quality were investigated by researchers who assessed the feasibility of using a smartphone’s inbuilt microphone to record heart sounds. Three out of four recordings were of good quality, allowing for further processing to obtain medically relevant information. Users aged over 60 seemed to have lower-quality recordings, regardless of phone version or biological sex.
Researchers hope this study will pave the way for individuals with heart problems to easily record their own heart sounds at home, thus improving diagnostics.