Auscultation

Medical | Reference

iOS

This is a computer program that primarily plays different sounds of human heart beat murmurs or lung wheezes. It is designed for medical students and professionals who wish to review and test their knowledge and skill at identifying these conditions.

Ausculation is the term used when listening to the sounds emanating from inside the body with the aid of a stethoscope. This is something that almost all medical professionals must perform when examining a patient. Experts agree that this technique of listening can only be mastered through years of training by working with actual patients. Furthermore, placing a diagnosis is always done by employing many tests in addition to ausculation. In the case of the heart, an EKG or Echocardiogram might be used to visually identify the different components present in a heart murmur.

This program is not meant for diagnosis of any medical condition. It does not strive to identify a sound, rather it plays back prerecorded sounds like a tape cassette would.

This program is not meant to substitute for an EKG or proper training on live patients. Rather, it is designed to give professionals and students an additional tool, in their pre-existing repertoire, to test themselves on their abilities at identifying a sound which may be classified as a disorder of a bodily organ. Neither is this program perfect at presenting such sounds. It is a rather small snap-shot of possible sounds that strive to represent a canonical disorder. Some of those sounds may be synthesized, and not live recordings. Others may be of low amplitude or otherwise difficult to hear and discern. Alas, this is the case with any such program which attempts to mimic these phenomenon. Nonetheless, we are working earnestly to update it with better, higher resolution, natural, clearer and crisper recordings.

This program strives to present to its users a wide collection of bodily sounds in a test format. Questions and answers are grouped together and alternated on the screen. Users listen to sounds and press on one of four buttons to select the choice they feel best answers the question "what sound do you hear". Questions are randomized and presented in a given period of time. Then the exam is scored and the results are presented to the test taker. The number and percent correct are shown as a bar graph. The incorrect and skipped questions are listed so that users can review those questions they did not choose properly.

Headphones are REQUIRED. Sounds can not be easily heard with the speakerphone on. This program is meant for individual use, and not designed for a classroom or group environment.


FEATURES:

40+ Sound Study Questions featuring heart murmurs, lung wheezes, and stomach aches.

Timed Exam
Graphical Performance Statistics
Bookmarks
Personalized Notes

REQUIREMENTS:

Require's iPhone 3.0
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

Headphones required, sounds are otherwise difficult to hear. For individual use only, not meant for a classroom setting.