Stethoscope chestpiece usable with a portable electronic device and related methods
First Claim
1. An electronic stethoscope chestpiece comprising:
- a chestpiece housing having a lower body member and upper body member together defining an exterior surface and an interior space within the exterior surface;
the interior space in the lower body member including a cavity extending from a radially enlarged open end to a radially constricted aperture to form a stethoscope bell, the radially enlarged open end and radially constricted aperture having a common radial axis passing therethrough;
the interior space in the upper body member including a circuit board positioned above the radially constricted aperture and mechanically supporting a headphone connector and a sound detector located at the radially constricted aperture, the circuit board including a first electrical channel adapted to transmit an electrical signal corresponding to sound in the stethoscope bell to a portable electronic device that records sound and a second electrical channel adapted to allow an audio signal transmitted from the portable electronic device to pass to the headphone connector.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic stethoscope chestpiece includes a chestpiece housing having an interior space including a cavity extending from a radially enlarged open end to a radially constricted aperture to form a stethoscope bell. The radially enlarged open end and radially constricted aperture have a common radial axis. Another part of the interior space includes a circuit board positioned above the radially constricted aperture that mechanically supports a headphone connector and a sound detector located at the radially constricted aperture. The circuit board includes a first electrical channel adapted to transmit an electrical signal corresponding to sound in the stethoscope bell to a portable electronic device that records sound and a second electrical channel adapted to allow an audio signal transmitted from the portable electronic device to pass to the headphone connector.
37 Citations
18 Claims
-
1. An electronic stethoscope chestpiece comprising:
-
a chestpiece housing having a lower body member and upper body member together defining an exterior surface and an interior space within the exterior surface; the interior space in the lower body member including a cavity extending from a radially enlarged open end to a radially constricted aperture to form a stethoscope bell, the radially enlarged open end and radially constricted aperture having a common radial axis passing therethrough; the interior space in the upper body member including a circuit board positioned above the radially constricted aperture and mechanically supporting a headphone connector and a sound detector located at the radially constricted aperture, the circuit board including a first electrical channel adapted to transmit an electrical signal corresponding to sound in the stethoscope bell to a portable electronic device that records sound and a second electrical channel adapted to allow an audio signal transmitted from the portable electronic device to pass to the headphone connector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A system for performing auscultation comprising:
-
a chestpiece housing having a lower body member and upper body member defining an exterior surface and an interior space, a stethoscope bell including a cavity recessed into the lower body member from a radially enlarged open end to a radially constricted aperture co-axial with the radially enlarged open end; a sound detector located at the radially constricted aperture for converting sound in the cavity to an electrical auscultation signal; electronic circuitry within the interior space configured to (a) transmit the auscultation signal to a portable electronic device having a processor, machine readable memory, and a display; and
(b) transmit the auscultation signal from the portable electronic device to a remote speaker after it is transmitted from the sound detector to the portable electronic device and from the portable electronic device back to the electronic circuitry; andprogram instructions for showing a graphical image of the auscultation signal on the display and storing the auscultation signal in the machine readable memory; wherein the electronic circuitry includes a circuit board positioned in the interior space in the upper body member above the radially constricted aperture, the circuit board mechanically supporting a headphone connector and the sound detector, the circuit board including a first electrical channel adapted to transmit the auscultation signal from the sound detector to the portable electronic device and a second electrical channel adapted to transmit the auscultation signal from the portable electronic device to the remote speaker. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
Specification