3M introduces first electronic stethoscope with Bluetooth wireless
1 September 2009
3M has introduced the 3M Littmann Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200,
a next-generation auscultation device featuring Bluetooth technology
that wirelessly transfers heart, lung and other body sounds to computer
systems for further analysis.
“For almost 50 years, the Littmann brand has been synonymous with
quality and innovation in stethoscopes,” said Warren Wasescha, new
products marketing manager, 3M Health Care. “The introduction of the
Littmann Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200 signals a new age in
stethoscope technology that will help enhance clinicians’ natural
abilities, and enable healthcare providers to confirm diagnoses and more
easily gather a second opinion from colleagues.”
The company partnered with Connecticut-based Zargis Medical to
develop two companion software packages exclusively for the Littmann
Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200. Specifically:
- Zargis Cardioscan software pairs with the Littmann Electronic
Stethoscope Model 3200 to guide the clinician through four main
cardiac sites, then after approximately one minute, indicates
whether or not the patient possesses a suspected diastolic or
systolic murmur — and whether or not the murmur is suspected to be a
Class I indication for echocardiography referral.
- Zargis StethAssist software, included with the Littmann
Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200, allows clinicians to visualize
heart, lung and other body sounds, play recordings at slow speeds to
hear more clearly, and save recordings for comparison to future
auscultations.
StethAssist and Cardioscan recordings and related patient notes are
stored electronically and can also be sent to colleagues for a second
opinion.
“The combination of the Littmann Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200
and the Zargis Cardioscan diagnostic support software arms clinicians
with a valuable tool that provides results during the patient exam,”
said Joseph Tartaglia, MD, a practicing cardiologist in White Plains,
New York, and clinical assistant professor of medicine at New York
Medical College in Valhalla, New York.
“The ability to record and automatically analyze heart sounds can
help improve a clinician’s confidence, document complex auscultations,
and may keep some patients from going through additional, unnecessary
testing.”
According to a retrospective study published in Clinical
Cardiology in February 2008, physicians using Cardioscan results
reduced their false negative referral decisions for heart murmurs by an
average of 46% and reduced their unnecessary referral decisions by an
average of 41%.
"At a time when our nation is focused on leveraging technology to
improve healthcare efficiency, this launch represents a breakthrough in
computer-aided auscultation that has the potential to reduce unnecessary
referrals, or help clinicians detect pathologic heart murmurs earlier in
the treatment cycle," stated John Kallassy, CEO of Zargis Medical.
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