Listen to Your Heart

Reported March 2007

PEOBODY, Mass. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Heart disease is a leading killer for both men and women. That's why when we hear the words "heart murmur," our heart may skip a beat. But not all murmurs indicate disease. Now a new improvement to the old stethoscope will have doctors relieving your anxiety with just one visit.

The heartbeat signifies life. Since the 1800s, doctors have relied on the stethoscope to detect heart murmurs. Through a stethoscope, a murmur sounds like a swishing noise. To a patient, the diagnosis can be scary.

"A murmur is an abnormal heart sound that can sometimes signify a diseased heart valve," Alain Chaoui, M.D., a family practitioner at Family Medicine North in Peobody, Mass., tells Ivanhoe.

Doctors detect murmurs in about 30 percent of all adults and 80 percent of children. Most are harmless, but the most common way to tell is through additional testing with an echocardiogram or with a visit to a cardiologist.

Now, biomedical scientists have developed a new computerized stethoscope that may eliminate that extra visit to a specialist's office. The Zargis Acoustic Cardioscan (ZACsmtm) System first amplifies and records heart sounds. Then -- using mathematics -- computer software analyzes the heart sounds and graphically displays the murmur, helping doctors determine whether a patient's murmur is a sign of something severe.

"For a patient, right away it will diffuse the anxiety of having an abnormal heart sound," Dr. Chaoui says. He believes Cardioscan will also diffuse unnecessary insurance costs, now that he can diagnose murmurs on the spot. It has been authorized by the FDA and takes just minutes for a doctor to perform.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Peter Hodge
Director, Marketing & Operations
Zargis Medical
(888) 773-3669 ext. 23
phodge@speedus.com

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