A novel low-mass dual accelerometer improves the signal-to-noise ratio for detecting high-frequency heart sounds, potentially aiding in the non-invasive acoustic detection of partially occluded coronary arteries.
Should not yet change auscultation practice; leaves open prospective validation for acoustic coronary detection.
GOAL: The purpose of this paper is to improve the detection of high-frequency sounds from the heart for better identification of turbulent blood flow in partially occluded coronary arteries. This paper also describes a method for the quantitative assessment of data quality. METHODS: A very light-weight dual accelerometer has been developed that places a small mechanical load on the chest. When used in conjunction with a novel correlation-based analysis, this dual-signal transducer provides an estimate to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the acoustic signal. RESULTS: The new transducer has significantly better SNR properties than the traditional cardiac microphones. This improvement is due to increased sensitivity to high-frequency signals not a reduction in noise and is likely the result of reduced mechanical loading on the chest. CONCLUSION: Substantial improvement in the detection of high-frequency heart sounds is possible as is quantitative assessment of data quality. SIGNIFICANCE: The new transducer and analysis will lead to substantial improvements in the acoustic detection of partially occluded arteries associated with coronary artery disease. It is finally possible to obtain a measurement of the quality of heart sound signals as they are being recorded.
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John L. Semmlow (2015) studied this question.
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