Patients with severe respiratory or pulmonary diseases require intensive treatment and their lung function must be constantly monitored. As part of the Pneumo.Vest project, Fraunhofer scientists developed a technology in which noises in the lungs are recorded using a textile vest with integrated acoustic sensors. The signals are then converted and displayed visually with the software. In this way, patients outside the intensive care units can still be monitored continuously. Technology increases the possibility of diagnosis and improves the patient’s quality of life.
For over 200 years, the stethoscope has been a standard tool for doctors and as such is a symbol of the medical profession. Television hospital dramas show doctors running down the corridors with a stethoscope around their necks. Experienced doctors do use them to listen very carefully to the beats of the heart and lungs and, as a result, to diagnose diseases.
Now the stethoscope is getting help. As part of the Pneumo.Vest project, scientists from the Institute of Ceramic Technology and Systems IKTS im. Fraunhofer in their Berlin office developed a textile vest with integrated acoustic sensors, which is a high-performance addition to a traditional stethoscope. Piezoceramic acoustic sensors are built into the front and back of the vest to record any sounds made by the lungs in the chest, no matter how small. The software records the signals and electronically amplifies them, while the lungs are visually presented on the display. Since the software knows the location of each individual sensor, it can assign data to its exact location. This gives a detailed acoustic and optical picture of the ventilation situation for all parts of the lungs. Here’s what makes it so special: As the system collects and stores data continuously, testing can take place at any time and in the absence of hospital staff. Pneumo.Vest also shows the condition of your lungs over time, for example in the last 24 hours. Needless to say, traditional auscultation can also be performed directly on patients. However, instead of manually auscultating different points with a stethoscope, several sensors are used simultaneously.
“Pneumo.Vest is not intended to eliminate the stethoscope and is not a substitute for the skills of experienced pneumologists. However, auscultation and even CT scans of the lungs are only a snapshot at the time of the examination. Our technology adds value as it allows continuous lung monitoring in the same way as a long-term ECG, even if the patient is not connected to ICU equipment but has been admitted to the general ward, ”explains Ralf Schallert, project manager at Fraunhofer IKTS.
Machine learning algorithms aid diagnosis
In addition to the acoustic sensors, the heart of the vest is the software. Responsible for storing, presenting and analyzing data. It can be used by the clinician to display acoustic events in specific areas of the lungs on the display. The use of algorithms in digital signal processing enables the targeted evaluation of acoustic signals. This means that you can, for example, filter out the heartbeat or amplify characteristic frequency ranges, making lung sounds such as rustling and wheezing much easier to hear.
In addition, scientists at Fraunhofer IKTS are developing machine learning algorithms. In the future, they will be able to organize and classify complex ambient sounds in the chest. The pneumologist will then conduct a final evaluation and diagnosis.
Patients can also benefit from alternative digital sensors. By wearing the vest, they can recover without being constantly monitored by medical personnel. They can move to the general ward or even be sent home and move around more or less freely. Despite this, the lungs are constantly monitored and any sudden deterioration in condition can be reported to the medical staff immediately.
The first tests with employees of the University Clinic of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care of the University of Magdeburg showed that the concept works in practice. “The opinions from the doctors were overwhelmingly positive. The combination of acoustic sensors, visualization and machine learning algorithms will be able to reliably distinguish between a wide variety of lung sounds, ”explains Schallert. Dr. Alexander Uhrig from the Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin is also pleased with the technology. An infection and pneumology specialist from the renowned Charité hospital was one of the initiators of this idea: “Pneumo.Vest is exactly what we need. It serves as a tool that extends our diagnostic capabilities, relieves hospital staff and makes hospital stays more enjoyable for patients. “
The technology was initially designed for patients with respiratory diseases, but it also works for people in care facilities and in sleep laboratories. It can also be used to train young doctors in auscultation.
Increased demand for clinical grade wear devices
With Pneumo.Vest, scientists at Fraunhofer IKTS have developed a product that is adapted to the increasingly tense hospital situation. In Germany, 385,000 patients with respiratory or pulmonary diseases each year require hospital treatment. More than 60 percent are on a ventilator for more than 24 hours. This figure does not take into account the current increase in the number of patients with respiratory disease due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of increasing life expectancy, the medical industry also expects an increase in the number of elderly patients with respiratory problems. Thanks to Fraunhofer IKTS technology, hospitals, especially expensive intensive care units, can be relieved because their beds will no longer be occupied for so long.
It should be added that the market for such clinical-grade wearable devices is growing rapidly. They are compact medical devices that can be worn directly on the body to measure vital signs such as heart rate, blood saturation, respiratory rate and skin temperature. As a medical device that can be flexibly used, the Pneumo.Vest vest fits perfectly into this development. But don’t worry: Doctors will continue to use their beloved stethoscope in the future.
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High-tech vest monitors lung function (2022, August 1)
