Advances in Microsensors and Wearable Bioelectronics for Digital Stethoscopes in Health Monitoring and Disease Diagnosis

Abstract

Acoustic stethoscopes have demonstrated beneficial factors aiding diagnosis from the doctors with accurate body sounds. Still, the conventional acoustic stethoscopes require a substantial amount of clinical experience and hearing skills for the physicians to accurately diagnose symptoms from abnormal sounds. Especially for cardiopulmonary systems, it is crucial to collect sounds with precision since they contain valuable information in specific frequency ranges for various sounds. This review paper summarizes recent advances and technical developments in microsensors, circuits, chips, and integrated electronics for fabricating different digital stethoscopes that offer portable detection of body sounds. They solve the limitations of conventional stethoscopes, aiming for wireless auscultation in digitized medicine. Overall, this comprehensive review will help researchers design and develop new wearable electronics and digital stethoscopes for advancing human healthcare, continuous monitoring, and better diagnosis.

Keywords: digital stethoscopes; healthcare; microsensors; wearable bioelectronics.