Effective implementation of the Prototype of a digital stethoscope using a Smartphone

This article presents the activities carried out in research for the development of a prototype digital stethoscope using a smartphone. First the importance of biomedical engineering in medical decisions and the key concepts of listening to body sound are discussed, with a focus on understanding how signals from the heart, lungs and tract gastrointestinal are received. Using the digital signal processing approach, the main methods of filtering digital signals, which are the subject of this work, are discussed. It also shows the evolution of mobile computing, modern technologies for operating systems and the share of medical solutions. With these concepts in mind, we have developed an external device and app for the Android operating system that can receive and filter body signals to create a digital stethoscope. The process of developing a data acquisition system is also presented, together with the results of the tests and simulations carried out, offering a final discussion on the importance of the characteristics of the smartphone in medical practice, possible improvements in the process digital filtering and effective digital stethoscoperealization.