3M/Littmann Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200 With Zargis Cardioscan

Okay, this should be the# 1 innovation of the year. Wow!

Love, Peace & Soul

Save $9.4 billion? According to Global Industry Analysts Inc that number happens to be the estimated size of the global cardiovascular disease diagnostics market for 2010.

@Kads "saving some $9.4 billion" doesn't directly say that the savings will happen in one year. Could be the total savings from this device over the next two centuries. But that's just my bs spin and I think your right that the number is cooked.

More than 8 million exams per year, and not just in good ol' America, but worldwide. These exams ain't just finger pricks, but BIG BUSINESS. At only $1,200/per, it adds up to about $9B/yr. And if this seems pretty high cost, just wait 'till you get the actual bill. in a few more years w/o healthcare reform, double that cost. This is a phenominal advance for preventive medicine.

in 190 years we never thought of puting a mic in a stethoscope??!!!!

In more than 190 years we still burn coal for energy.

in my opinion, the exact amount saved doesn't matter to me. the fact is, it will save lives and also make american medicine much more efficient. kudos to Littman for coming up with a much needed invention.

Why not include it's use for carotid, orbital, cranial, and abdominal bruits? Not all physicians have excellent hearing (like me for example).

This stethoscope creates an electronic "phonocardiogram" which is a graphical representation of the aucoustic information.

In 1980, CMS (centers for medicare and medicaid) stopped paying for "phonocardiograms" because they were outmoded and of little diagnostic utility. All insurance companies then stopped paying for this test. As a result, virtually all doctors stopped doing phonocardiograms as part of diagnostic workup.

Recording the phonocardiogram and transmitting it digitally to a computer adds little diagnostically.

Legends abound of the "days of the giants" when doctors had wonderful diagnostic skills and make exact diagnoses based on auscultory (stethoscope) findings alone. Except that those days didn't exist! If they did, we wouldn't have needed to develop all these other fancy diagnostic tests! The stethoscope has lots of utility incorporated as part of the physical exam and gives the doctor clues as to the presence or absence of pathology. However in the same way a mechanic needs to listen to a car's noises to get information about what might be wrong, he/she doesn't rely on the noises alone to make a diagnosis.

We shouldn't fall into the trap of thinking that if we just "listen hard enough" or "computer analyze" the information, that the sounds the heart makes will tell us all we need to know about the heart.

Barry Love, MD
Pediatric Cardiology
Mount Sinai Medical Center
New York, New York

One would hope that the technology involved has improved somewhat since 1980, a time when computers that took up an entire floor of a building were less powerful (or productive) than my dual-core laptop is now.

The point being, that as enlightening as the history of the phonocardiogram and its failures may be, you can't throw out the baby because his grandfather had the measels.

The same could have (And was) been said about Desktop computers back in the day, but with time, advances have made them not only worthwhile, but the single greatest technological tool for businesses of any kind across the globe today.

I tested this stethoscope for several months. I already had purchased the 4100. The 3200 is remarkable. Pneumonias are definitely easier to hear with it. The unit is easy to use and is impressive.

in my opinion, the exact amount saved doesn't matter to me. the fact is, it will save lives and also make american medicine much more efficient. kudos to Littman for coming up with a much needed invention.
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