Death of the stethoscope?

STETHOSCOPES could become a thing of the past after scientists devised a way of monitoring a patient’s heart without touching the skin – using radio waves.

The method can also be used to monitor blood pressure and breathing rate.

Instead of taping electrodes to the skin or making patients wear a blood pressure cuff, wireless tags are worn on the sleeve of a patient’s top, and on their chest. It means a patient can move around – or be asleep – while being monitored. Potentially, an entire ward could be monitored at one time.

The system measures how much of a radio signal is reflected from the body by the wireless tags – and how much is absorbed. By comparing the two, the US researchers say they can measure a patient’s heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate, and breath effort – how hard the patient finds breathing.