US008920343B2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent N0.: US 8,920,343 B2 Sabatino (45) Date of Patent: Dec. 30, 2014 (54) APPARATUS FOR ACQUIRING AND 5,107,225 A 4/1992 Wheatley et a1. PROCESSING OF PHYSIOLOGICAL 5,155,805 A 10/1992 Kaasila AUDITORY SIGNALS 5,159,668 A 10/1992 Kaasila (Continued) (76) Inventor: Michael Edward Sabatino, Albany, NY (Us) FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this AU 2005100352 6/2005 patent is extended or adjusted under 35 CA 2245788 8/1998 U.S.C. 154(b) by 996 days. (Continued) (21) App1.No.: 11/602,017 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Pasterkamp H., Kraman S., Wodicka G., “Advances Beyond the (22) Filed: Nov. 20, 2006 Stetoscope”, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 1997, vol. 156, pp. 974-987. (65) Prior Publication Data US 2007/0282174 A1 Dec. 6, 2007 (Continued) Primary Examiner * Linda Dvorak Related US. Application Data Assistant Examiner * Emily Lloyd (60) Provisional application No. 60/785,357, ?led on Mar. (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm * Michael S. Young; Hall 23, 2006. Estill Attorneys at Law (51) Int. Cl. (57) ABSTRACT A6IB 7/00 (2006.01) A6IB 7/04 A diagnostic system for collecting, processing, recording and (2006.01) analyzing sounds associated with the physiologic activities of US. Cl. (52) various human organs. The system includes a plurality of CPC A61B 7/00(2013.01);A61B 7/04 (2013.01) transducers placed on the body surface at the operator’s dis USPC ........................................... .. 600/586; 381/67 cretion. The transducers are coupled to analog/digital signal (58) Field of Classi?cation Search processing circuitry for enhancement of the desired signal USPC ........................................... .. 600/586; 381/67 and exclusion of ambient noise. An A/D converter digitizes See application ?le for complete search history. the incoming data and transmits data, which is divided into a multitude of discrete blocks, received over very ?nite inter (56) References Cited vals of time, to a computer workstation and moved through an U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS analysis program sequentially. The program is displayed as a series of icons which depict operations that the program per 3,990,435 A 11/1976 Murphy forms and which allow the operator to reprogram the system 4,267,845 A 5/1981 Robertson at any time. The data is ?nally displayed in graphical format 4,344,436 A * 8/1982 Kubota ....................... .. 600/586 and stored in memory as the program processes each block 4,770,189 A 9/1988 Shyu 5,012,815 A 5/1991 Bennett sequentially. 5,099,204 A 3/1992 Wheatley 5,103,459 A 4/1992 Gilhousen et al. 52 Claims, 30 Drawing Sheets 6 M MD Converter . Ms ,1 \ I? -' ' \\ I Keyboard \ Mouse \ \ A \ a) J r” Digital -\ 1 .’ 0 Signal 4 9. 1 34 A Processor i \ Input/Output ~10 if i -/ Cirouitr fl; vw14 E f y ;’/I" (Monitor)..... ..\ 4” 1,», _. (T E..... "Bus _____ All 1" 2 j __ 15 / iii “—/ 1' ll”, / CPU Memory \ 1 Printer ' f v VI 1 I Router , 4*"~*~ ~-’ ‘16 US 8,920,343 B2 Page 2 (56) References Cited 5,614,806 3/1997 Wilson et al. 5,617,060 4/1997 Wilson et al. U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 5,621,752 4/1997 Antonio et al. 5,621,784 4/1997 Tiedemann et al. 5,187,480 2/1993 Thomas et al. 5,621,853 4/1997 Gardner 5,193,094 3/1993 Viterbi 5,625,876 4/1997 Gilhousen et al. 5,257,283 10/1993 Gilhousen et al. 5,627,857 5/1997 Wilson 5,265,119 11/1993 Gilhousen et al. 5,629,955 5/1997 McDonough 5,276,765 1/1994 Freeman et al. 5,629,975 5/1997 Tiedemann et al. 5,280,472 1/1994 Gilhousen et al. 5,638,412 6/1997 Blakeney et al. 5,283,536 2/1994 Wheatley 5,640,414 6/1997 Blakeney et al. 5,289,527 2/1994 Tiedemann 5,642,398 6/1997 Tiedemann et al. 5,307,405 4/1994 Sih 5,644,591 7/1997 Sutton 5,309,474 5/1994 Gilhousen et al. 5,644,596 7/1997 Sih 5,325,479 6/1994 Kaasila 5,646,991 7/1997 Sih 5,339,046 8/1994 Kornfeld et al. 5,652,814 7/1997 Pan et al. 5,341,456 8/1994 DeJaco 5,654,979 8/1997 Levin et al. 5,383,219 1/1995 Wheatley et al. 5,655,220 8/1997 Weiland et al. 5,392,287 2/1995 Tiedemann et al. 5,663,807 9/1997 Propach et al. 5,396,516 3/1995 Padovani et al. 5,666,122 9/1997 Carter 5,408,697 4/1995 Price et al. 5,673,259 9/1997 Quick 5,414,728 5/1995 Zehavi 5,675,581 10/1997 Soliman 5,426,392 6/1995 Kornfeld 5,675,644 10/1997 Sih 5,437,055 7/1995 Wheatley et al. 5,680,395 10/1997 Weaver et al. 5,442,322 8/1995 Kornfeld et al. 5,687,229 11/1997 Sih 5,442,627 8/1995 Viterbi et al. 5,689,557 11/1997 Kaplan 5,452,473 9/1995 Weiland et al. 5,691,974 11/1997 Zehavi et al. 5,461,639 10/1995 Wheatley et al. 5,692,006 11/1997 Ross 5,469,115 11/1995 Peterzell et al. 5,696,468 12/1997 Nise 5,469,471 11/1995 Wheatley 5,697,055 12/1997 Gilhousen et al. 5,471,497 11/1995 Zehavi 5,703,902 12/1997 Ziv et al. 5,475,870 12/1995 Weaver et al. 5,704,001 12/1997 Gardner 5,479,475 12/1995 Grob et al. 5,708,448 1/1998 Wallace 5,483,696 1/1996 Wheatley et al. 5,710,521 1/1998 Butler 5,485,486 1/1996 Gilhousen et al. 5,710,758 1/1998 Soliman et al. 5,487,175 1/1996 Bayley et al. 5,710,768 1/1998 Ziv et al. 5,497,395 3/1996 Jou 5,715,236 2/1998 Gilhousen et al. 5,499,280 3/1996 Wilson et al. 5,715,526 2/1998 Weaver et al. 5,509,015 4/1996 Tiedemann et al. 5,722,044 2/1998 Padovani et al. 5,509,035 4/1996 Teidemann et al. 5,722,053 2/1998 Kornfeld et al. 5,511,067 4/1996 Miller 5,722,061 2/1998 Hutchison et al. 5,513,176 4/1996 Dean et al. 5,722,063 2/1998 Peterzell et al. 5,515,177 5/1996 Propach et al. 5,724,385 3/1998 Levin et al. 5,517,323 5/1996 Propach et al. 5,727,123 3/1998 McDonough et al. 5,519,761 5/1996 Gilhousen 5,729,540 3/1998 Wegrzyn 5,528,593 6/1996 English et al. 5,732,134 3/1998 Sih 5,530,928 6/1996 Wheatley et al. 5,732,341 3/1998 Wheatley 5,533,011 7/1996 Dean et al. 5,734,716 3/1998 Kulberg 5,539,531 7/1996 Propach et al. 5,737,687 4/1998 Martin et al. 5,544,223 8/1996 Robbins et al. 5,737,708 4/1998 Grob et al. 5,546,459 8/1996 Sih et al. 5,742,734 4/1998 DeJaco et al. 5,548,812 8/1996 Padovani et al. 5,748,104 5/1998 Argyroudis et al. 5,559,865 9/1996 Gilhousen 5,749,067 5/1998 Barrett 5,559,881 9/1996 Sih 5,751,725 5/1998 Chen 5,561,618 10/1996 Dehesh 5,751,761 5/1998 Gilhousen 5,564,083 10/1996 Lee et al. 5,751,901 5/1998 DeJaco et al. 5,566,000 10/1996 Propach et al. 5,754,533 5/1998 Bender et al. 5,566,206 10/1996 Butler et al. 5,754,542 5/1998 Ault et al. 5,566,357 10/1996 Holcman 5,754,733 5/1998 Gardner et al. 5,574,773 11/1996 Grob et al. 5,757,767 5/1998 Zehavi 5,574,987 11/1996 Wallace 5,757,858 5/1998 Black et al. 5,576,662 11/1996 Price et al. 5,758,266 5/1998 Kornfeld et al. 5,577,022 11/1996 Padovani et al. 5,761,204 6/1998 Grob et al. 5,577,265 11/1996 Wheatley 5,764,687 6/1998 Easton 5,588,043 12/1996 Tiedemann et al. 5,772,586 6/1998 Heinonen et al. 5,589,756 12/1996 Wilson et al. 5,774,563 6/1998 DeLauriers 5,590,069 12/1996 Levin 5,777,990 7/1998 Zehavi et al. 5,590,406 12/1996 Bayley et al. 5,778,024 7/1998 McDonough 5,590,408 12/1996 Weiland et al. 5,781,543 7/1998 Ault et al. 5,592,548 1/1997 Sih 5,781,856 7/1998 Jacobs et al. 5,594,718 1/1997 Weaver et al. 5,781,867 7/1998 Tidwell 5,596,570 1/1997 Soliman 5,784,406 7/1998 DeJaco et al. 5,598,849 2/1997 Browne 5,784,532 7/1998 McDonough et al. 5,602,833 2/1997 Zehavi 5,790,589 8/1998 Hutchison et al. 5,602,834 2/1997 Dean et al. 5,790,632 8/1998 Antonio et al. 5,603,096 2/1997 Gilhousen et al. 5,793,338 8/1998 Standke et al.