StethoVest: A simultaneous multichannel wearable system for cardiac acoustic mapping

Abstract

Cardiac acoustic mapping remains a highly unexplored area, likely due in part to a decline in research into heart auscultation over the past several decades. However, because the stethoscope remains an integral part of clinical care, novel approaches to improve the accuracy and scope of auscultation are now being explored. The current work introduces an innovative design for heart acoustic mapping based on a microphone array embedded in a wearable vest. The system incorporates a customized design of a front-end readout channel with discrete components paired with analog to digital converter DAQ modules. The main scope is to provide simultaneous recordings of heart sounds to generate spatiotemporal images. This noninvasive and time efficient technique will assist in the exploration of normal and pathological heart activity propagation patterns, providing new knowledge to the current understanding of the cardiac acousteome.