Hand-held device to replace stethoscope soon

[Night_Hawk]

Hand-held device to replace stethoscope soon

(IANS) / 25 January 2014

Read this right. If a doctor visits you without a stethoscope, then don't get surprised.

Slick hand-held ultrasound devices that look like smartphones are set to replace the 200-year-old stethoscopes very soon, an Indian-origin doctor has said.

These pocket-sized ultrasound machines can diagnose heart, lung and other problems more accurately than traditional stethoscopes.

With ultrasound devices, one can not only look at the heart, but all of the organs in the body, said Jagat Narula, professor of cardiology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and co-author of the paper.

The ability to get a better look inside the body could prevent misdiagnoses, and help doctors detect abnormalities that need to be followed up with other tests.

"Many authors have argued that ultrasound has become the stethoscope of the 21st century," said Narula, who did his cardiology fellowship training and PhD from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in 1989.

The new devices could potentially impact the relationship between the doctor and patient, Narula said.

"Now, when a patient comes to me, I just talk to them for a few minutes, then I send them for a test and tell them to come back," he said.

But "with an ultrasound device, I will be examining them on the bedside, spending 10 to 15 minutes with them, and talking as I'm doing ultrasound examination", Narula added in a paper published in the journal Global Heart.

Ren Laennec, the French physician who invented the stethoscope in 1816, used the stethoscope as an indirect way to "look" into the chest.
http://tinyurl.com/njmk9xf

 

[iltaf]

bht achi bt h, asal technology wohi jo aam insan k kaam aye

 

[Night_Hawk]

[h=1]Trusty stethoscope faces threat from portable hi-tech[/h]

The stethoscope is among the most enduring symbols of the medical profession



In TV medical dramas, doctors and nurses are never without one. At the surgery, it is the GP's best friend.
Along with the white coat, the stethoscope is among the most recognisable symbols of the medical profession.
But according to an editorial in the journal Global Heart this week, the stethoscope is in its death throes, in danger of being consigned to medical history, having been overtaken by technology.
So are the stethoscope's days numbered?
Used to listen to the internal sounds of the human body, particularly the heart, lungs and abdomen, the stethoscope has been around for nearly 200 years.

The stethoscope was invented in 1816 by a French doctor, Rene Laennec.
Before, doctors had placed their ear to the patient's chest to hear the sounds of the lungs and heart.
But to spare the blushes of a female patient, he rolled up sheets of paper and placed one end to his ear and the other to her chest.
Laennec discovered he could hear the sounds loudly and clearly.
He subsequently made models out of wood, known as monaural stethoscopes because they had only one earpiece.
Binaural stethoscopes with two earpieces, the version still used today, came into use in the 1860s.
"Stethoscope" derives from the Greek words for "breast" and "look at".

Over that time, it has changed little, apart from a change from one earpiece to two earpieces in the 1860s.
Small and smart However, Prof Jagat Narula and associate professor Bret Nelson, from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, believe that handheld ultrasound devices are set to take over from the traditional stethoscope.
They say this is because ultrasound technology is becoming more accurate, the devices are reducing in size and their cost gradually decreasing.
They write: "Several manufacturers offer hand-held ultrasound machines slightly larger than a deck of cards, with technology and screens modelled after modern smartphones."
They say these would allow doctors to diagnose illnesses quickly, particularly in emergencies, reduce complications and guide them when doing invasive procedures.
Using the ultrasound screen, doctors can see images of heart activity that could be sent ahead to a hospital A&E, they suggest.
Although point-of-care ultrasound is a new field and many clinicians have not been trained how to use it, the authors give examples of how the technology can be used fully in harsh environments, such as combat support hospitals, refugee camps and after disasters such as the Haitian earthquake in 2010.
They conclude: "Certainly the stage is set for disruption; as LPs were replaced by cassettes, then CDs and MP3s, so too might the stethoscope yield to ultrasound."

The stethoscope has long been the main tool in the doctor's toolkit

Listening skills In the UK, cardiologists are adamant that the stethoscope will not be replaced.
Dr Sarah Clarke, a consultant cardiologist at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge and vice-president of the British Cardiovascular Society, says the stethoscope is a doctor's main diagnostic tool.
"We don't leave home without it. You can't replace what you hear if you're a doctor. It's a big part of our training.
"We are taught to listen to everything in a patient examination and put it all together, alongside what the patient is telling us.
"A picture isn't enough. You've got to put it into context. A handheld ultrasound doesn't give you the same level of diagnostic information or the same detail.
"The skill is in interpreting what you hear, in listening to the heart and the lungs which are key in diagnoses."
Dr Clarke says that a doctor may decide to do an ultrasound on a patient - using a large machine, not a handheld one - but only after listening to the heart and lungs using a stethoscope.
She adds: "The stethoscope is our first port of call, the main tool in our toolkit. That won't change."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25861086