NTU and TTSH develop smart medical device to enable early intervention of congestive heart failure

A research team from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) have invented a smart handheld medical device that could enable early intervention for patients with congestive heart failure.

The portable innovation, which resembles a stethoscope, is made up of an acoustic sensor connected to a smartphone. It enables early intervention by allowing patients to check for excess fluid in the lungs at home. Fluid accumulation in the lungs, which causes breathlessness, is a common symptom of congestive heart failure.

Currently, patients can only check for fluid accumulation in the lungs by going for a clinical examination, which can be considerably subjective, or through imaging modalities and serum biomarker tests, which are costly and take a longer time.

The non-invasive device built by a team led by NTU Associate Professor Ser Wee and TTSH Associate Professor David Foo circumvents these problems with its portability, ease of use and quick results. Currently a prototype, the device is able to detect any excess fluid in the lungs in 10 seconds once placed on the patient’s chest or back.

In a pilot study using lung sounds recorded from TTSH’s congestive heart failure patients, Assoc Prof Ser and his team found the device to have over 92 per cent accuracy in identifying patients with the condition – comparable to existing ‘gold standard’ diagnosis methods such as X-rays and CT scans.

The findings were first presented at the 2012 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.