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SelfStet

 A computerized stethoscope for home use
  (+4, -1)
(+4, -1) 		  [vote for,
against]

At a time where restaurants are getting defibrilators, it seems that requiring a doctor visit to find out if you're just being your usual hypochondriac self or in fact you have a walking pneumonia is absurd.

At the same time, many people who tend to NOT go to the doctor with what seems like simply a nasty flu are putting themselves at risk.

This type of system, using accoustic analysis with a stethoscope would provide an initial diagnosis, with a healthy margin for error on the side of caution.

—theircompetitor, Mar 15 2006

Or, just use a cell phone http://www.nytimes....ase-by-h-84107.html
[theircompetitor, Nov 12 2009]

Looks like they really baked this http://www.popsci.c...cal-corp-cardioscan
Though they focus on notification, the software is key. [theircompetitor, Nov 14 2009]

More cellphone scopia http://www.popsci.c...tes-your-smartphone
[theircompetitor, Oct 10 2010]

AliveCor iPhone ECG http://www.examiner...t-palm-of-your-hand
[theircompetitor, Jan 05 2011]

[link]






       //At a time where restaurants are getting defibrilators// To tenderise the steaks?
—coprocephalous, Mar 15 2006
   

       In case of sticker shock
—theircompetitor, Mar 16 2006
   

       I think you need an x-ray to diagnose pnuemonia.
If not, this is interesting.
—Zimmy, Mar 16 2006
   

       Ummmm.........nah. If it tells you your sick, wont the doctor still check you, again.
—Tanned Black, Mar 16 2006
   

       Zimmy, a doctor is able to hear if your lungs are clear, and identify other problems, including heart function. Since the input is sound, it stands to reason this sound can be analyzed by software
—theircompetitor, Mar 16 2006
   

       I think I might be a hypochondriac...I have all the classic symptoms. I'm going to talk to my doctor, and see if he can prescribe me a placebo.
—hubby2debbie, Mar 16 2006
   

       I tried being a hypochondriac for awhile, but I got sick of it.   

       I double checked. It seems you can diagnose w/ a stethescope. The x-ray & lab work confirm & determine the type/severity.   

       + When I had it, I definately knew something was not right.
—Zimmy, Mar 17 2006
   

       One only serves to confirm the other. Xrays and lung sounds.   

       " Since the input is sound, it stands to reason this sound can be analyzed by software"   

       Maybe if you, I, or [Jutta] wrote it. My faith in the general world is faint (cough, cough).
—normzone, Nov 14 2009
   

       Good point :) I think though this kind of objective, rather than subjective diagnostic tool development is key to actually both improving medicine and reducing cost -- that's the point that the linked article makes.
—theircompetitor, Nov 14 2009
   

       Why was this idea not brought to my attention before? It's quite a good one. Most of the things doctors listen for with a stethoscope are not too subtle. In the case of lungs, it's basically "crackling" towards the bottom of the lungs (indicating a deeper infection). In terms of heart sounds, they aren't really any more complex than the electrical signals which an automatic defibrillator monitors before delivering a shock.   

       So, reasonable software could probably do a decent job of triage at least. And, if this can be done by cellphone, then even better.
—MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 14 2009
   

       // software could probably do a decent job of triage //   

       You could start out with a basic "silence detector". An absence of respiration is widely considered reasonable evidence of something serious.
—8th of 7, Nov 14 2009
   

       Or there could be a button which you don't press if you're dead.
—MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 05 2011
   

       //basically "crackling" towards the bottom of the lungs// Also wheezes, rhonchi, decreased breath sounds, and pleural rubs. Oh, and the seldom-heard mediastinal crunch (forgot about that one). And *not* only at the bottom of the lungs. If you do it right, you check each lobe individually. Not that many people do, anymore.   

       //a button which you don't press if you're dead// AKA a dead- man switch. Not to be confused with the button the executioner presses in places where the Electric Chair is still used.
—mouseposture, Jan 06 2011
   
      
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