Can We Use Smartphones as At-Home Heart Monitors?

Health professionals are examining built-in microphones in a smartphone to find out if we can use them as an at-home heart monitor. Medical experts recently decided to evaluate the effectiveness of smartphone mics in capturing heart sounds. Experts from King's College London and Maastricht University released a new study in the European Heart Journal titled "Smartphone as an electronic stethoscope: factors influencing heart sound quality." Furthermore, according to a story from Medical News Today, recent research found that we can use smartphones as at-home stethoscopes. Dr. Pablo Lamata, the study's co-author, said the research "proves that mobile technologies are a viable way of recording heart sounds." In the future, clinicians might record heart sounds on smartphones, he added. Moreover, Dr. Lamata went on to say that medical professionals might use them to monitor the development or presence of heart problems. What's more In terms of the study's actual findings, 1,148 participants between May 21 and October 4, 2021, indicated that 80% of them were able to record high-quality heart sounds using their smartphones. However, the researchers could process only 75% of their recordings to produce information that was useful for medical purposes. Also, Read- South Korea Develops Nanotech Tattoos to Monitor Health Issues On another note, involved researchers also created a new application that can successfully record heart sounds in addition to testing the built-in microphones of smartphones. In addition, they created the new Echoes app with the help of Cellule Design Studio, the British Heart Foundation, and the Evelina Children's Heart Organization. Additionally, to use the new medical app, the user must place their smartphone on their chest. Then, they must press the "record" button. The app will then filter the heart sound recordings to eliminate any background noise. Also, Read- Sleeping With Your Phone? Know That, It’s Bad For Your Health Hence, we might be able to use smartphones as at-home heart monitors.