Stethoscope systems and assemblies
Inventors
Bagley, Phnam • Moak, Joseph Benjamin • Litvinov, Yuri Viacheslav • WIGGINS, Daniel Corey • Kutyreva, Nadezhda • GRIMM, THOMAS HERBERT • Lang-Ree, Arne • GOVARDHAN, SHAILENDRA SHASHIKANT • Stubbs, Mark Adrian
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-12685507-B2
Publication Date
2026-07-21
Expiration Date
Abstract
A chest piece for a wireless stethoscope system can be configured to receive, from the accelerometer, motion data; determine, based on the motion data, that the chest piece has experienced no moment for a time threshold; and command the chest piece to enter a sleep mode that consumes less power in response to determining that no moment has occurred for the time threshold.
Core Innovation
The invention is a wireless stethoscope system with a main housing comprising a neck strap, a power source, and a removable chest piece. In the fully assembled configuration, the power source charges a power supply in the chest piece; in the operable configuration, the detached chest piece converts auscultation signals to digital signals and wirelessly transmits them to the first transceiver. The partial content does not include the background section, so the problem being solved is not explicitly described in patent.
The disclosure also describes replaceable power sources with a multiport charging station, a spring-biased cable-retention mechanism, and wired device verification followed by Bluetooth Low Energy passkey pairing. An accelerometer-based inactivity sleep mode is identified for reducing chest-piece power consumption. The system also supports wireless transmission to multiple receivers, including headsets.
Claims Coverage
The provided claims identify three independent claims: claim 1 covers a stethoscope system, claim 7 covers a method of using the system, and claim 13 covers a method of providing and facilitating the system’s configurations. These independent claims are represented by three inventive features.
Neck-strap stethoscope system with detachable chest piece
Claim 1 covers a main housing comprising a neck strap with a power source at one end and a removably coupled chest piece at the other. When both are coupled to the neck strap, the power source charges the chest-piece power supply; when the chest piece is detached, it converts auscultation signals to digital signals for wireless transmission to the first transceiver.
Method of using a wireless stethoscope system
Claim 7 covers draping the neck strap around a user’s neck, decoupling the chest piece, selecting an operating mode, placing the chest piece on a patient’s skin, converting auscultation signals to digital signals, and transmitting the digital signals from the chest piece’s second transceiver to the first transceiver.
Method of providing and facilitating stethoscope configurations
Claim 13 covers providing the power source, neck-strap main housing, and removably coupled chest piece, and facilitating a fully assembled configuration in which the power source charges the chest-piece power supply and an operable configuration in which the detached chest piece converts auscultation signals to digital signals for wireless transmission to the first transceiver.
Together, the independent claims cover the stethoscope system and methods for using and providing it, including assembled charging and detached wireless auscultation. The dependent claims further specify transmission to multiple headsets, charging arrangements with multiple ports and power sources, and replacing a power source when its charge is low.
Stated Advantages
The accelerometer-based inactivity sleep mode reduces chest-piece power consumption.
Documented Applications
A chest piece is placed on a patient’s skin to convert auscultation signals to digital signals and transmit them wirelessly to the neck-strap housing; the signals may also be transmitted to multiple headsets.
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