Malaysia becomes world’s first AIenabled stethoscope production base

KUALA LUMPUR: M3DICINE, an Australian private medical device design and manufacturing company, has made Malaysia the production base for Stethee – the world’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI)- enabled stethoscope system.

In a joint statement yesteray, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority ( MIDA), M3DICINE and Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (CREST) stated that M3DICINE Technology Sdn Bhd, the Malaysian unit of M3DICINE, together with its strategic partner, CREST, has launched the high technology product.

MIDA Chief Executive Officer ( CEO) and CREST Chairman Datuk Azman Mahmud said the venture would not only increase export earnings for Malaysia, but also provide business and job opportunities for the country.

“The project augurs well with our drive towards embracing the fourth industrial revolution ( Industry 4.0), and we encourage more companies to explore similar mutually beneficial collaboration towards cementing Malaysia’s reputation as a country which can churn out innovative and creative products and services,” he said.

The statement said M3DICINE had chosen Malaysia as its production base after a careful evaluation of several locations, which included Taiwan, South Korea and China.

CREST CEO Jaffri Ibrahim said “Stethee” was a combination of AI, Internet of Things ( IoT) and medical device.

“This is a most serendipitous relationship and we think it is the start of greater things to come,” he said.

Meanwhile, Health Ministry Director- General Datuk Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said the potential for the cutting-edge technology to be used in rural and remote areas in the country was enormous, bringing high quality healthcare of the urban to the rural areas.

The Stethee Pro stethoscope is currently undergoing clinical evaluation by a group of medical practitioners and clinical researchers at the Clinical Research Centre (CRC), Perak.

The Stethee was designed to work as easily as a traditional stethoscope, allowing users to listen to heart and lung sounds with sophisticated amplification and filtering technology.

Unlike the traditional stethoscope, Stethee employs machine learning, becoming more intelligent with use. — Bernama