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StethoCloud Project Diagnoses Pneumonia On the Cheap

Posted by timothy on from the changing-the-shape-of-the-bottleneck dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "According to the World Health Organization, nearly one in five childhood deaths worldwide is caused by pneumonia, each year killing an estimated 1.4 million children under the age of 5, more than any other disease. Even in developed countries, trained healthcare professionals have trouble accurately diagnosing pneumonia because diagnosis comes after the onset of symptoms, which often must become severe before the condition is recognized as life threatening. Now Singularity Hub reports on StethoCloud, a cloud-based service that turns a Windows smartphone into a digital stethoscope. Using a specially designed microphone called a 'stethomic' that plugs into the smartphone's audio jack, and an app that guides users through the proper method for listening to a patient's breathing, early testing shows promise at accurately detecting the disease. Currently, the group is working with the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne to develop research protocols for field testing and they've sent the stethomics to hospitals in Ghana, Malaysia, and Mozambique. By next year, the team hopes the device will be in use in areas that need it most. The team expects its stethoscope to cost around $15 to $20, significantly cheaper than current digital stethoscopes in the market which tend to cost hundreds of dollars. The team argues that the cost of the phone itself is negligible, as smartphones are quickly becoming common even in the developing countries where childhood pneumonia is most prevalent."

37 of 55 comments (clear)

  1. Why cloud? by Cenan · · Score: 2

    The project looks extremely interesting and useful, but I don't get why they wish to base it on "the cloud". Does their algorithm really require a centralized server to compute a result? Seems to me that would prohibit the application's use in areas where an internet link is not available.

    --
    ... whatever ...
    1. Re:Why cloud? by tenex · · Score: 4, Insightful

      According to article, yes I admit to having read it, they have a stand-alone java based version that runs on just about anything; the 'cloud' version is constantly collecting historical data that allows the diagnostic algorithms to learn and improve themselves. I'm not sure that last part is actually true but it is a nice thought.

    2. Re:Why cloud? by vlm · · Score: 1

      The project looks extremely interesting and useful, but I don't get why they wish to base it on "the cloud". Does their algorithm really require a centralized server to compute a result? Seems to me that would prohibit the application's use in areas where an internet link is not available.

      Its all about the liability and malpractice. Dr. VLM misdiagnosed my kid? Cool, lets bankrupt him. "The cloud" misdiagnosed my kid? .... crickets ... Sounds like the designers are in .au and the buyers are in Africa so plus or minus extradition treaties etc they're pretty safe.

      Its not that they're evil, its just economics. Lets say 99% is a realistic goal, so 1% of the time you'll be sued for $10M. That means you need to charge everyone $100K just to break even on insurance. Unless you can put all the brains on the internet and the developers on another continent... then you can reduce the $100K per procedure cost of insurance to zero, and get the price down to a more unskilled labor range like $1 per person or whatever.

      To some extent I'm not sure what the point is. If the cost of effective treatment dramatically exceeds the cost of diagnosis, and the cost of diagnosis is out of reach, then whats the point of lowering the cost of diagnosis. I guess from a system perspective its a net win to quickly and cheaply triage patients.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    3. Re:Why cloud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "The cloud" misdiagnosed my kid? .... crickets ... Sounds like the designers are in .au and the buyers are in Africa so plus or minus extradition treaties etc they're pretty safe.

      That's not really how it works. The provider making the diagnosis, regardless of the tools used to make that diagnosis, is legally responsible for that diagnosis until such time that the patient's management is transferred to another provider. If treatment is initiated by *any* provider, then that treatment-initiating provider is responsible for both the treatment AND the validity of the diagnosis s/he is treating.

    4. Re:Why cloud? by kelemvor4 · · Score: 1

      Cloud based systems are problematic in 3rd world countries. I live in the North of Johannesburg in South Africa, and often battle with smartphone apps that don't work because of connectivity issues. In rural areas the connectivity can be even worse, even though the networks are not nearly as congested there. Mady rural areas in South Africa and I assume the rest of Africa, only have EDGE (2G) data coverage, if at all.

      Cloud based systems are problematic in first world countries as well. Particularly from a privacy perspective.

    5. Re:Why cloud? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 2

      The "Windows Smartphone" angle is problematic anywhere.

      Nobody actually owns one. :-)

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    6. Re:Why cloud? by Sarten-X · · Score: 1

      Speaking from firsthand experience in Ghana, 3G cellular data coverage is available in most major cities, some villages, and several rural spots that happen to be flat enough that the network provider bothered to put in a better tower for wide coverage. The most up-to-date cities have 4G, and that's where I see the cloud aspect being most useful. It's normal for a city doctor to have a smartphone, but not a terrestrial internet connection to his office.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    7. Re:Why cloud? by davester666 · · Score: 1

      Oh, you can pick them up for free at the dump now. And once WP8 ships, there will be truckloads of WP 7.5-only Lumia's to hand out like chicklets. At least a whole bunch that haven't yet been skipped into a lake.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    8. Re:Why cloud? by TENTH+SHOW+JAM · · Score: 2

      Doctors frequently consult other doctors. This is so they make less mistakes. Think of the cloud option as a way of consulting with a "BigAssLibraryOfBreathingSounds" that have been filtered by experts in lung disease. Now the doctor still makes the final call (incidentally it's their insurance) but now they get the help of consultants around the world.

      --
      A sig is placed here
      To display how futile
      English Haiku is
    9. Re:Why cloud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This sort of thing was done on other platforms long ago, so a Windows phone is not required.

      ThinkLabs developed a modified desktop build of the popular FOSS audio app Audacity (free Mac and Windows binary DL page below). Linux builds should be too much work. The digital stethoscope is much more than $20 though. They first offered one in 2003. They have set up some filters and added a spectragraph viewing mode in Audacity. Other audio/noise/vibration apps should be able to do basically the same thing. The electronic hardware certainly doesn't seem cheaper than a regular stethoscope. Possibly having someone relatively unskilled sample the sounds, then (cloud?) sending the file to someone with a medical background is the cost savings. But there would still be a need for suitable resources to supply any needed medications.

      ThinkLabs has also made iOS lung and heart apps.

      http://www.thinklabsmedical.com/software-download.html

      Sethoscope software (Audacity derived) manual
      http://www.thinklabsmedical.com/support-and-manuals/26-electronic-stethoscope/support/74-stethoscope-software-user-manual.html

      http://thinklabsmedical.com/

      It looks like the dev is a musician dealing in modest volume. Audio expertise was no doubt helpful with both the stethoscope and apps.

  2. Windows Phone by vettemph · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why develop it for a phone that nobody uses (or wants)?

    --
    The government which is strong enough to protect you from everything is strong enough to take everything from you.
    1. Re:Windows Phone by vlm · · Score: 1

      Why develop it for a phone that nobody uses (or wants)?

      The medical market understands high cost of sales more than it understands high cost of devices.

      The team expects its stethoscope to cost around $15 to $20, significantly cheaper than current digital stethoscopes in the market which tend to cost hundreds of dollars.

      I recently read MS spends $500 on advertising for each phone sold.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    2. Re:Windows Phone by dwillmore · · Score: 5, Funny

      I recently read MS spends $500 on advertising for each phone sold.

      No, that figure is wrong, it's $250, they sold another phone.

    3. Re:Windows Phone by wwphx · · Score: 1

      Why develop it for a phone that nobody uses (or wants)?

      Because it was a contest sponsored by Microsoft using MS technology?

      --
      When you sympathize with stupidity, you start thinking like an idiot.
  3. now, does it work? by alen · · Score: 1

    one of my kids had pnemonia and one of the best pediatricians in NYC couldn't diagnose it for a few days because the exact symptoms didn't appear for a few days after the fever first started. at first he thought it was a virus

    1. Re:now, does it work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      A fever could be any of hundreds of ailments. Pneumonia is fluid in the lungs but it takes a chest X-ray to catch it early. You can't X-ray every kid running a fever.

    2. Re:now, does it work? by f3rret · · Score: 1

      Sure you can, you just don't want to in most cases.

      Might end up with hundreds of superpowered kids, not all of whom will end up going to heroic route.

      --
      Admit nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.
    3. Re:now, does it work? by niftymitch · · Score: 1

      at first he thought it was a virus

      And of course a viral infection cannot cause pneumonia. He was right not to have diagnosed it, because it wasn't pneumonia then (yet) and your story stinks.

      Standard "Oh bother".
      Viral pneumonia is possible. It however does not respond to antibiotics.
      Yet bacterial infections often follow ....

      --
      Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
    4. Re:now, does it work? by tbird81 · · Score: 1

      The thing is, it most likely was a virus initially. The runny nose, cough, fever, that's the virus.

      It might well have turned into a bacterial pneumonia after that. It might also have just been a viral pneumonia.

      The important thing is actually how well the child is. If they've got a patch of small pneumonia which might have showed up on x-ray, and they get better by themselves there's no harm done. More harm if they had the (albeit low) radiation from a CXR and then strong antibiotics.

      If the kids still feeding well, and they're not short-of-breath and breathing at really rapid rate with indrawing, let them be. If they get worse, take them back and get treated.

      BTW the best way to check for pneumonia in the 3rd world is actually just having a clock and counting the number of breaths per second.

    5. Re:now, does it work? by wwphx · · Score: 1

      We were staying with friends near Denver, and Dave came to me at like 12:30 in the morning saying I had to take him to the hospital, he was having serious pain in the back not far from his heart. Dave can walk off kidney stones, so it has to be pretty serious pain for him to complain. At the ER they find nothing wrong with his heart, his lungs look good, everything looks OK. But he still has this pain and a persistent cough. They put him on antibiotics just in case, later do an angiogram, everything is good. He spends the weekend in the hospital, finally comes home. We're playing cards, and he's looking worse and worse and still coughing. Finally his wife takes him back to the emergency room and they find he has pneumonia.

      Which first presented as chest pain.

      When they compare the later x-ray with the first x-ray, they can see a shadow in his lung in the early one, but it wasn't enough to jump out and say "I'm pneumonia!"

      --
      When you sympathize with stupidity, you start thinking like an idiot.
  4. Re:Stethoscope costs $520 by Cenan · · Score: 1

    Well the number of phones to number of kids doesn't have to be 1:1, so you might get away with diagnosing a hundred kids with the same phone. The $20 price comes from being able to diagnose pneumonia without a medical degree i guess.

    --
    ... whatever ...
  5. Stethoscope by wisnoskij · · Score: 1

    They make it seem like this is some revolutionary new way to identify pneumonia and is better than anything we currentally have. But it just turns a cheap microphone into a crappy stethoscope.

    --
    Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
    1. Re:Stethoscope by tg123 · · Score: 1

      They make it seem like this is some revolutionary new way to identify pneumonia and is better than anything we currentally have. But it just turns a cheap microphone into a crappy stethoscope.

      You forgot to add the Million dollars of Doctors training also connected to said scope and its not just a crappy stethoscope it is a measuring device used day to day by medical professionals.

      This app turns a (smart? its running windows) mobile and crappy microphone into Expert recommendations this means you and I could diagnose this condition as well as a medical professional with years of training.

  6. Fantastic by Whiteox · · Score: 1

    Good Stuff!
    Smartphones moving towards a Tricoder?

    --
    Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
  7. Re:lies, lies, lies by sonamchauhan · · Score: 1

    You're not footing the bill

  8. Easy to port to other platforms by dutchwhizzman · · Score: 1

    The app does little more than guide the user where and how to take samples. The rest is done "in the cloud". It should be trivial to port it.

    --
    I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
  9. And rats for tuberculosis by sandytaru · · Score: 1

    Even more low tech are the HeroRATS, originally trained to sniff out landmines in Mozambique, now being trained to detect the presence of TB in sputim samples. Sometimes a low tech solution works when a high tech solution falls short. However, since pneumonia is fluid on the lungs and not always caused by a single bacteria, maybe the high tech solution of a stethoscope is better in this case.

    --
    Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
  10. Hopefully The Longevity Advances... by rmdingler · · Score: 1

    Can be augmented by parallel advances in food & fresh water distribution so we're not keeping more citizens of developing nations alive to starve later.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

    1. Re:Hopefully The Longevity Advances... by amorsen · · Score: 1

      World population growth is currently 1% a year. If humanity cannot get 1% better at growing food every year, we deserve to die out.

      Growth rate is falling, so it will get even easier in the future.

      --
      Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
  11. What about hippa that data better be encrypted by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    What about hippa that data better be encrypted

  12. But the phone? by niftymitch · · Score: 1

    The team expects the stethoscope to cost..... WHAT...

    http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/06/stehoclou/

    Nevermind the cost of the phone is many times more.
    For the same price a classic stethoscope could be had.

    Better to have developed a HTML5 trainer
    That can run on any phone, laptop, desktop....

    --
    Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
  13. Re:horrific truths by couchslug · · Score: 1

    "i get it, it sucks but this is the truth of the matter. if someone has a solution, i would love to hear it."

    The quest to save and perpetuate every human doesn't have a purpose beyond being a life-affirming gesture. There is no need for a "solution" because there is really no problem.

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  14. caveat from physician by jds91md · · Score: 1

    Impressive to read that folks are developing a digital listening device for the chest of children to aid in the diagnosis of pneumonia. But what isn't shared here is that listening (or "auscultation") is quite inaccurate for the diagnosis of pneumonia when done by expert humans called doctors. Maybe a machine could do better, I don't know. But just aspiring to be as good as a human doctor's ears is not good enough. --JSt

  15. Not the only smartphone project. by godel_56 · · Score: 1

    This is only one of many similar add-ons to a smart phone, where a small investment in extra hardware turns a smart phone into some piece of lab or medical equipment. I can recall seeing articles about dermascopes and microscopes as just two examples.

    So with just one smart phone and maybe $150 a rural doctor could have a small portable laboratory. It is curious that they've chosen a Windows phone to work on. You'd think Android phones would be much more common in isolated areas.

    Here's one for the self diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections by analyzing a urine sample:

    http://www.gizmag.com/self-diagnosis-sti-system-via-mobile-phone-being-developed/16873/

  16. Re:Linux is to blame by tg123 · · Score: 1

    Can someone mod this guy as Troll -1 I know negativity is bad but this looks like advertising

  17. CES 2011: Microsoft's Kinect and Windows Phone 7 U by kuok · · Score: 1

    Microsoft sets the mood for the Consumer Electronics Show 2011 starting tomorrow with a pre-CES keynote this evening. In this first part, we've put together a few of the more important updates for Kinect users and the Windows Phone 7 ecosystem - http://is.gd/eqN4vu

  18. $620 stethoscope by jsepeta · · Score: 1

    $20 for the stethoscope mic. $600 for the smartphone. How is that cheap? it's only cheap when you add more apps & plugin devices to the phone.

    --
    Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.