In early September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new digital stethoscope, which records heart sounds and stores them in the cloud, which can be accessed through an iPhone app.
Here are five things to know about the new digital stethoscope.
1. Berkeley, Calif.-based Eko Devices developed the electronic stethoscope called the Eko Core.
2. The Eko Core attaches to a stethoscope to record heart sounds, which are uploaded to the cloud. Providers can access the heart readings on their Apple products using the Eko app and can also sync them into the EHR. Currently, Eko has partnered with EHR vendor drchrono, but has plans to extend partnerships with Allscripts, Practice Fusion, Cerner, Epic and athenahealth, according Eko's website.
3. So far, Eko has received $2.8 million in funding, according to a CNN Money report.
4. The device costs $199. Soon, Eko plans to sell a smart stethoscope that does not require analog devices at all, which is priced at $299, according to the report.
5. Jason Bellet, cofounder of Eko Devices, told the Chicago Tribune the company is developing an algorithm that will be able to recognize heart conditions. The physician would hold the stethoscope to the patient's chest and the device would be able to analyze the heart condition.
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