CLINICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE NOISE IMMUNE STETHOSCOPE ABOARD A U.S. NAVY CARRIER

CLINICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE NOISE IMMUNE STETHOSCOPE ABOARD A U.S. NAVY CARRIER

USAARL 2012-02


STEVEN J. GAYDOS, CARL E. LONG, CHRISTINE MACLAN, ANGELO LUCERO, ALFRED F. SHWAYHAT, AMANDA M. KELLEY

THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN SUPPORT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT FOR CLINICAL AUSCULTATION IN HIGH NOISE ENVIRONMENTS. THE DIAGNOSTIC PERFORMANCE OF THE NOISE IMMUNE STETHOSCOPE (NIS) WAS ASSESSED BY USER-CLINICIANS IN A DEPLOYED ENVIRONMENT. THE NIS IS A HYBRID DUAL FUNCTION STETHOSCOPE WITH BOTH ELECTROMECHANICAL ACOUSTIC (PASSIVE) AND ULTRASOUND DOPPLER (ACTIVE) MODES. DATA WERE COLLECTED OVER A 7 MONTH OPERATIONAL DEPLOYMENT BY THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF A NIMITZ-CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIER. EIGHTEEN OBSERVATIONS WERE MADE WITH BOTH MODES FOR CASES OF ADVENTITIOUS CARDIOPULMONARY SOUNDS AND INTUBATION INTEGRITY. OVERALL, USERS EVALUATED THE DEVICE TO BE MODERATELY HELPFUL IN MAKING CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS AND DECISIONS IN NOISY ENVIRONMENTS. SMALL ENROLLMENT NUMBERS PROHIBIT DEFINITIVE CONCLUSIONS, BUT RESULTS SUGGEST HIGH USER CONFIDENCE IN ABILITY TO MAKE DIAGNOSES IN ACOUSTIC MODE WITH FAVORABLE RATINGS FOR EASE OF USE. DOPPLER MODE PROVED PROBLEMATIC WITH LOW MEDIAN RATINGS COMPARED TO A TRADITIONAL STETHOSCOPE. THIS MAY REFLECT LACK OF FAMILIARITY AND EXPERIENCE WITH AN ULTRASOUND MODALITY. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT ARE DISCUSSED.