Listen to the Sound of Life with Stemoscope, a Smart Wireless Stethoscope

We’ve all seen medical professionals use a stethoscope to listen to the sounds of the body for medical diagnosis— it’s an acoustic diagnostic tool for examining the circulatory, respiratory, and gastrointestinal systems. As with any medical device, stethoscopes can be expensive (think $100 and up), limiting what most of us consumers can afford, or know how to use for that matter.

While it’s not intended or certified for use as a medical device or diagnostic tool, the more affordable Stemoscope allows anyone to hear what’s going on underneath the skin using a smartphone and some headphones.

“The Stemoscope is powered by a full-featured APP, for iOS and Android. It lets you discover and record the incredible sounds that exist all around us. Listening with Stemoscope reveals a new and expansive world. The sounds can be visualized, saved and shared conveniently.”

The Stemoscope is an advanced stethoscope that was designed with STEM education in mind, with the idea that kids can learn about the sounds of nature; however, anyone can use it for any number of applications, including listening to babies inside their mother’s womb or even their pet’s heartbeat. The app enables users to visualize different sounds, record them, and share them with others.

On the hardware end, the Stemoscope features a 50mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery, a 10Hz to 1000Hz frequency range, a pitch of +/- 2 octaves, 16X digital amplification in STEM mode, and measures in at 38mm (diameter) X 1mm (height). Not much is known about the microphone used in the platform beyond the materials its housed in (zinc alloy with chrome plating and ABS plastic). The Stemoscope can be used with any iOS and Android device and a good pair of headphones.

The Stemoscope is currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter with pledges starting at $29 and up, which gets you the stethoscope and extras, plus a case, and handy strap.