When a doctor puts a stethoscope on a patient's chest, he or she usually asks the patient to breathe in deeply and breathe out slowly. This is quite common when a patient has a cold or serious cough: the doctor listens to the patient's heart and lungs to check for respiratory infection.
Going to the doctor for a cold does not seem much of a hassle in Taiwan where the size and density of population is enough to support widespread neighborhood clinics and medical institutions. Healthcare is generally readily available to people in Taiwan. However, it is not the same for people living in countries with vast territories or people having difficulty making trips to see a doctor.
In view of this, Shanghai Tuoxiao Intelligent Technology has developed an intelligent heart and lung auscultation system and service that combines a digital stethoscope, AI-based algorithm and big data analytics platform for heart and lung sounds.
According to Tuoxiao CFO Hsueh Yang, the system automatically analyzes whether there is anything abnormal with the user's heart or lung sounds using the AI-based algorithm to help a doctor make diagnosis. Its cloud-based platform not only analyzes and stores biophysical data but also sends the data to hospitals. Furthermore, its digital stethoscope also records the user's heart and lung sounds, which can be played back to healthcare professionals when the user later makes a hospital visit.
Yang points out that the system makes remote auscultation and remote diagnosis a reality. It provides a home care tool to warn patients of potential heart or lung problems and to monitor health conditions during recuperation. In other words, Tuoxiao's intelligent heart and lung auscultation system can integrate with hierarchical medical services and remote health centers to accelerate the availability of remote healthcare.
According to the company, its intelligent heart and lung auscultation system has accumulated more than 20,000 heart and lung sound recordings. Tuoxiao is also working with Shanghai Children's Hospital and Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and has begun trial operation at Wuhu City Community Hospital of Anhui Province.
Hsueh Yang, CFO, Shanghai Tuoxiao Intelligent Technology
Photo: Vega Chiu, Digitimes, June 2018
