Social Good Engineering Magazine: GineersNow Social Innovation GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 001 | Page 97

STETHEE Revolutionizing the Stethoscope Photo Source: Bilgi Versin A lmost three of every 10 deaths around the world are attributed to cardiovascular diseases, and they remain to be among the top killers year after year. Heart diseases are silent killers, because they do not usually show symptoms that would prompt one to see a specialist. Most of the early signs of heart problems are dismissed by the sufferer, so they escalate to the point that when they strike, it is usually debilitating if not fatal. For years, regular medical consultation has been the only key to prevent any impending cardiac condition. People invest time and money to undergo annual physical examinations to act on na- scent or escalating cardiovascular cases that put their life in danger. Today, a groundbreaking invention may change the way we deal with potentially deadly heart conditions – presenting Stethee. Photo Source: 36krcnd With every use, a person’s cardiovascular health information is anonymously sent to Stethee’s cloud servers for processing. With the help of a sophisticated algorithm created based on medical databases and public health guidelines, Stethee can analyze heartbeats based on the age, family health history and other qualities of the user. Photo Source: Kickstarter Photo Source: Kickstarter Stethee is a device that takes the role of a “cardiologist” in your pocket. It goes far beyond what conventional fitness bands available in the market do – it monitors a person’s actual heart- beat, rather than their pulse. Stethee has an easy-to-understand reporting system, and can be connected to a Bluetooth headset or a mobile app. It gives off a haptic feedback that allows the user to “feel” his heartbeat, and emits color-coded light to inform the user of their heart’s health – green means good and orange means they have to seek for further medical help. According its developers, Stethee can also prove to be vital for pregnant women, in that it can see and listen to the heartbeat of their unborn babies. Stethee can also be valuable to asthmatics in tracking changes in the sounds of their lungs to help detect the onset of an asthma attack. While still in the prototype stage, Stethee’s creators are aggressively looking for 97 funding to push the device to production.