Heart Sounds

As the name implies, Heart Sounds refers to the audio sounds made by the heart during its normal functioning. Doctors often use a stethescope to be able to actually listen to these sounds. Heart sounds are acoustic, not electrical, so an acoustic transducer is necessary in order to sense them. The example plot below shows both the ECG and the corresponding Heart Sounds.

The Heart Sounds signal is best detected using an audio transducer placed over the left side of the subject's upper chest, directly over the heart if possible. Good mechanical coupling from a firm attachment is important, and substantial amplification is also usually required to get a good signal. Note also that subject motion and even the subject talking, can easily inject interference into the tissue under the audio transducer which can distort or even obscure the Heart Sounds signal.

Our 1010 Finger Pulse Plethysmograph is a piezo-electric pressure transducer. The 1010 works well for finger pulse, but the same transducer design can also be used for Heart Sounds. Our part number for this 1010 variant is the 1010-HS, and the only difference is in the lead wiring. The 1010-HS pricing is comparable to our standard 1010, but you will need to contact us to get the current price.

If you already have your own data collection system, we can supply our 2121 portable bioamplifier configured for the 1010-HS and Heart Sound detection. And, of course, the 1010-HS based signal chain can be added as a channel to our other systems, such as our Biolog ambulatory recorders, or our SC2000 Simple Scope desk top systems.

If you still have questions, or if you don't see what you need, drop us a line, and we will see how we can help you!