IT News
Mumbai, April 16
In view of the COVID 19 pandemic, the “Ayu Devices Private Ltd”, a start up firm of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, has designed a digital stethoscope called “AyuSynk” useful for remote auscultation (listening to chest sounds) of patients.
“Ayu Device” is a technology-based healthcare company spun out of BETiC, IIT, Bombay. It was founded by Adarsha K, Tapas Pandey and Dr. Rupesh Ghayar, SEO of BETiC,
“ AyuSynk” permits storing the auscultated sound under the health record of the patient and sharing it with other doctors for confirmatory opinion. Doctors make use of a stethoscope to listen to chest sounds such as crackles and wheezing that reflects with the development of the COVID-19 disease. This poses a risk to doctors from probable infection.
King Edward Medical College (KEM) Hospital which has joined Kasturba Hospital in tackling COVID-19, has procured 10 “AyuSynk” Bluetooth Enabled Digital Stethoscopes, to ensure “Doctor Patient Distancing”. The COVID-19 patients having symptoms of pneumonia have characteristic lung sounds called crackles and wheezes. These characteristic sounds can be amplified and monitored using “AyuSynk”.
“AyuSynk” can convert any conventional stethoscope to an electronic smart stethoscope since it can easily be attached to any stethoscope and give it the capability to amplify the sound up to 16 times. It can be connected to any smart phone or PC wirelessly via bluetooth for visualization of phonocardiogram. It can also help predict the normal/abnormal heart sound.
According to Adarsha K, the “AyuSynk” can be linked with any conventional stethoscope, to magnify chest sounds and transmit them wirelessly from patients to doctors without physical tubing. The advanced version of “AyuSynk” enables the transfer data from the stethoscope to mobile or laptop via Bluetooth.
In 2015, Adarsha K and Tapas Pandey teamed up with Dr. Nambiraj Konar from “Reliance Hospital” to come up with a solution that can facilitate early detection of heart and lung diseases through analysis of heart and lung sounds. They came up with a small device that can be attached to any conventional stethoscope to turn it into a digital stethoscope that features noise cancellation, sound amplification, recording and playback and precise visual representation of data to help doctors identify and analyze abnormal sounds. A regular stethoscope does not have these features.
At present over 1000 units of the digital stethoscope are in use across the country. Most of them are being used in primary health centres and in telemedicine companies. The Biomedical Engineering and Technology Incubation Centre ((BETiC), is located at IIT Bombay. It has satellite centres in six engineering colleges and seven medical institutes across Maharashtra. The initiative is planned and backed by SandT Council of Maharashtra Government and DST, New Delhi, to intensify indigenous development of reasonable medical devices appropriate for local manufacture and use.
