Digital telephonic system for stethoscope signal processing
First Claim
1. A method for converting, encoding and decoding analog and digital signals, while maintaining the quality and fidelity of auscultation sounds originating from a stethoscope, to enable a patient at a patient station to transmit the sounds to a doctor at a remote doctor station comprising the steps of:
- amplifying analog signals from a chest piece at said patient station;
filtering said signals to get resultant signals;
feeding said resultant signals to a PCM encoder to transform said analog signals into a stream of binary data;
transferring said stream of binary data to a UART and to an ADPCM encoder and subsequently to a first modem;
sending said binary data from said first modem to a telephone line;
receiving said binary data from said telephone line via a second modem at said doctor station;
transferring said binary data from said second modem to a UART and to a repeated byte error handling circuit;
transferring said binary data from said repeated byte error handling circuit to an ADPCM decoder;
decoding said binary signal to extract said analog signal via a PCM decoder;
filtering said signal; and
amplifying said signal to be received by a headset at said doctor station.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to digital telephonic system for stethoscope signal processing. Stethoscope sounds are converted to electrical signals and conveyed in digital format to an RS232 data port of a data transmission product. In the alternate, a modem can be used to convey the signal via a home telephone line. At the receiving end, the reverse process takes place to convert the data back to audible sound. The fidelity and accuracy of the stethoscope sounds is maintained at the receiving end using asynchronous data communications and error protection techniques.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for converting, encoding and decoding analog and digital signals, while maintaining the quality and fidelity of auscultation sounds originating from a stethoscope, to enable a patient at a patient station to transmit the sounds to a doctor at a remote doctor station comprising the steps of:
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amplifying analog signals from a chest piece at said patient station; filtering said signals to get resultant signals; feeding said resultant signals to a PCM encoder to transform said analog signals into a stream of binary data; transferring said stream of binary data to a UART and to an ADPCM encoder and subsequently to a first modem; sending said binary data from said first modem to a telephone line; receiving said binary data from said telephone line via a second modem at said doctor station; transferring said binary data from said second modem to a UART and to a repeated byte error handling circuit; transferring said binary data from said repeated byte error handling circuit to an ADPCM decoder; decoding said binary signal to extract said analog signal via a PCM decoder; filtering said signal; and amplifying said signal to be received by a headset at said doctor station. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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2. A method for converting, encoding and decoding analog and digital signals, while maintaining the quality and fidelity of auscultation sounds originating from a stethoscope, to enable a patient at a patient station to transmit the sounds to a doctor at a remote doctor station comprising the steps of:
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amplifying analog signals from a chest piece at said patient station; filtering said signals to get resultant signals; feeding said resultant signals to a PCM encoder to transform said analog signals into a stream of binary data; transferring said stream of binary data to a UART and subsequently to a first RS232; sending said binary data from said first RS232 to a digital interface means; receiving said binary data from said first RS232 via a second RS232 at said doctor station; transferring said binary data from said second RS232 to a UART and consequently to a repeated byte error handling circuit; decoding said binary signal to extract said analog signal via a PCM decoder; filtering said signal; and amplifying said signal to be received by a headset at said doctor station. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A digital telephonic system for stethoscope signal processing wherein a patient and a doctor at a remote location are able to exchange actual stethoscopic auscultation sounds, via a plurality of analog and digital encoding and decoding means including direct digital interface means, the digital telephonic system comprising:
a patient station including; a chest piece with a stethoscope device; an amplifier a low pass filter in direct communication with the chest piece; a PCM encoder and a UART in communication with each other and further in communication with said low pass filter; and a first modem connected to an output port of said UART; a doctor station comprising; means for receiving said stethoscope sounds; a low pass filter connected to said means for receiving; a PCM decoder in communication with said low pass filter on an output side and with a repeated byte device on an input side; a UART connected to said repeated byte device; and a second modem connected to said UART; and said fist modem at said patient station being connected to said second modem at said doctor station via a telephone line. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for converting, encoding and decoding analog and digital signals, while maintaining the quality and fidelity of auscultation sounds originating from a stethoscope, to enable a patient at a patient station to transmit the sounds to a doctor at a remote doctor station comprising the steps of:
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amplifying analog signals from a chest piece at said patient station; filtering said signals to get resultant signals; feeding said resultant signals to a PCM encoder to transform said analog signals into a stream of binary data; transferring said stream of binary data to a UART and subsequently to a first modem; sending said binary data from said first modem to a telephone line; receiving said binary data from said telephone via a second modem at said doctor station; transferring said binary data from said second modem to a UART and consequently to a repeated byte error handling circuit; decoding said binary signal to extract said analog signal via a PCM decoder; filtering said signal; and amplifying said signal to be received by a headset at said doctor station. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A low bit rate digital device for the transmission of stethoscope sounds from a patient at a location to a doctor at another location wherein an efficient coding scheme is used without sacrificing high linearity, the device comprising:
a patient station including; a chest piece including a stethoscope sensor; an amplifier; a lowpass filter in direct communication with said chest piece; a PCM encoder and a UART in communication with each other and further in communication with said low pass filter; and a first modem connected to an output port of said UART; a doctor station comprising; means for receiving said stethoscope sounds; a low pass filter connected to said means for receiving; a PCM decoder in communication with said low pass filter on an output side and with a repeated byte device on an input side; a UART connected to said repeated byte device; and a second modem connected to said UART; and said fist modem at said patient station being connected to said second modem at said doctor station via a telephone line. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
Specification