Physicians in the U.S. can now get their hands on the new Eko Core digital stethoscope thanks to an FDA clearance announced today. The device is actually a snap-on attachment for just about any analog stethoscope that provides advanced audio processing, recording, and sharing capabilities.
It pairs with an app on your iPhone or iPad and streams the audio to the mobile device. From there the recordings can be replayed, analyzed in greater details using audio and visual tools, and shared with other physicians or uploaded to an electronic health record.
The device has a passive mode, allowing you to hear exactly what you’d normally hear through your stethoscope as if the Eko Core wasn’t there.
Interestingly, the co-founders of Shazam, the app that can identify music by listening to a few seconds of a recording, invested in Eko Devices, the firm that developed the Core. Now there are plans to release a “Shazam for Heartbeats,” so the doctors will have a handy assistant that can spot suspicious murmurs in everyday auscultations that they may otherwise miss.
Here’s a promo video for the Eko Core:
Flashback: Eko Attachment Gives Traditional Stethoscopes New Superpowers…
Product page: Eko Core…