MP3 Players: The New Stethoscopes

Okay, so pretty much everyone [who matters, cough] has an MP3 player. That means little kids, elders, punks, or just your average working Joe/Jane. Also, MP3 players are cheaper than ever. A cheap MP3 player is no longer asking for bad news; you don't have to drop big bucks to get a display, voice memos, and decent battery life. Why not implement them into the workplace, like say, the hospital? This is kind of the idea; that perhaps stethoscopes can be replaced with MP3 players.

Research in this new concept is being carried out by Neil Skjodt and Bill Hodgetts. Apparently, MP3s sound more clear to the listener (AKA your doctor). By hold the MP3 player's microphone to the patient's chest, a heartbeat can be heard and recorded. Such leads us to the added benefit of being able to keep a file of a patient's heartbeat. The following statement was released, describing the comparison:

"The quality, clarity, and purity of the loud sounds were better than I have ever heard with a stethoscope … The MP3 files were later transferred to a computer and converted into frequency curves. Computer analysis of the stored sounds showed that each had a a distinct signature."

It can very difficult to identify a specific sound using a stethoscope. It may still be difficult to identify such sounds, but with an MP3 file on record, these noises could be analyzed more easily without the patient being right there in the same room.

I'm sure there will be certain doctors, particularly the ones who've been in the medical business for many years, who protest and refuse to use some gadget like this to listen to a patient's heartbeat. However, methods such as the stethoscope all become dated eventually. Who's to say at least some of the doctors can't use MP3 players? It isn't like everyone in medicine has to make a total transition right away. If nothing else, this method can be used as a backup so that doctors can have sounds on file in the patient's record.

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