Lung auscultation using smartphone built-in microphone versus digital stethoscope: a comparative early feasibility...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Pulmonology
• Medical Technology
• Digital Health

Background:

• Smartphone microphones offer a promising avenue for remote home monitoring of pediatric respiratory conditions.
• Traditional auscultation methods can be enhanced by portable digital tools for improved accessibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the quality of respiratory sound recordings between smartphones and digital stethoscopes in children.
• To assess the devices' ability to detect adventitious lung sounds.

Main Methods:

• A comparative feasibility study involving 27 children in Northern Portugal.
• Simultaneous lung auscultation using a smartphone and a digital stethoscope at 7 anatomical locations.
• Independent classification of recording quality and presence of adventitious sounds, with disagreements resolved by a third researcher.

Main Results:

• High recording quality was achieved by both devices (93% smartphone vs. 97% digital stethoscope).
• Smartphones identified adventitious sounds in 11% of recordings, compared to 19% for digital stethoscopes (P=0.021).
• Excellent inter-device agreement (90%) was observed for adventitious sound detection (Cohen's kappa = 0.60).

Conclusions:

• Smartphone-based lung auscultation is a feasible technology for capturing pediatric respiratory sounds.
• The technology shows potential for identifying adventitious sounds, supporting remote respiratory disease monitoring.
• Further validation studies are recommended to confirm its efficacy in remote patient management.