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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Friday 25 OctOber 2019
Is the stethoscope dying? High-tech rivals pose a threat

By LINDSEY TANNER Georgia and predicts that
AP Medical Writer within the next decade,
CHICAGO (AP) — Two cen- hand-held ultrasound de-
turies after its invention, the vices will become part of
stethoscope — the very the routine physical exam,
symbol of the medical pro- just like the reflex hammer.
fession — is facing an un- The devices advance "our
certain prognosis. ability to take peek under
It is threatened by hand- the skin into the body," he
held devices that are also said. But Wallach added
pressed against the chest that, unlike some of his col-
but rely on ultrasound leagues, he isn't ready to
technology, artificial intel- declare the stethoscope
ligence and smartphone dead. He envisions the next
apps instead of doc- generation of physicians
tors' ears to help detect wearing "a stethoscope
leaks, murmurs, abnormal around the neck and an ul-
rhythms and other prob- trasound in the pocket."
lems in the heart, lungs and Modern-day stethoscopes
elsewhere. Some of these bear little resemblance to
instruments can yield imag- the first stethoscope, in-
es of the beating heart or vented in the early 1800s by
create electrocardiogram Frenchman Rene Laennec,
graphs. but they work essentially
Dr. Eric Topol, a world-re- the same way.
nowned cardiologist, con- In this file photo dated Wednesday, May 30, 2018, Nokia's Chairman Risto Siilasmaa speaks during Laennec's creation was
siders the stethoscope ob- a shareholder's meeting in Helsinki, Finland. a hollow tube of wood,
solete, nothing more than Associated Press almost a foot long, that
a pair of "rubber tubes." and stethoscope to launch has downsized ultrasound vices are nearly as easy to made it easier to hear
It "was OK for 200 years," their careers. It's more than scanners into devices re- use as stethoscopes and heart and lung sounds than
Topol said. But "we need to symbolic — stethoscope sembling TV remotes. It has allow doctors to watch the pressing an ear against the
go beyond that. We can skills are still taught, and also created digital stetho- body in motion and actu- chest. Rubber tubes, ear-
do better." proficiency is required for scopes that can be paired ally see things such as leaky pieces and the often cold
In a longstanding tradition, doctors to get their licens- with smartphones to create valves. "There's no reason metal attachment that is
nearly every U.S. medical es. moving pictures and read- you would listen to sounds placed against the chest
school presents incoming Over the last decade, outs. when you can see every- came later, helping to am-
students with a white coat though, the tech industry Proponents say these de- thing," Topol said. plify the sounds.
At many medical schools, When the stethoscope is
Researchers: Cyberespionage it's the newer devices that pressed against the body,
really get students' hearts sound waves make the di-
campaign targets UN agencies pumping. aphragm — the flat metal
"Wow!" ''Whoa!" ''This is disc part of the device —
awesome," Indiana Univer- and the bell-shaped un-
By FRANK BAJAK sity medical students ex- derside vibrate. That chan-
AP Cybersecurity Writer claimed in a recent class nels the sound waves up
A coordinated cyberes- as they learned how to use through the tubes to the
pionage campaign us- a hand-held ultrasound ears. Conventional stetho-
ing phishing to harvest device on a classmate, scopes typically cost under
passwords from mobile watching images of his lub- $200, compared with at
phones and computers dubbing heart on a tablet least a few thousand dol-
has targeted U.N. relief screen. lars for some of the high-
agencies, the Internation- The Butterfly iQ device, tech devices.
al Red Cross and other made by Guilford, Con- But picking up and inter-
non-governmental orga- necticut-based Butterfly preting body sounds is sub-
nizations groups for the Network Inc., went on the jective and requires a sen-
past 10 months, a cyber- market last year. An up- sitive ear — and a trained
security firm reported. date will include artificial one.
The San Francisco-based In this Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, photo a woman types on a intelligence to help users With medical advances
security company Look- keyboard in New York. position the probe and in- and competing devices
out said it doesn't know Associated Press terpret the images. over the past few decades,
who is behind the cam- the International Federa- and the University of San Students at the Indianap- "the old stethoscope is kind
paign, which was still ac- tion of the Red Cross and Diego. olis-based medical school, of falling on hard times in
tive Thursday. It added Red Crescent Societies, The cyberespionage one of the nation's largest, terms of rigorous training,"
that there are indications Lookout said. campaign's internet infra- learn stethoscope skills but said Dr. James Thomas, a
some of its targets may Also targeted were think structure has been hosted also get training in hand- cardiologist at Northwest-
have been members of tanks and research or- by a company called held ultrasound in a pro- ern Medicine in Chicago.
the international com- ganizations including The Shinjiru, which protects cli- gram launched there last "Some recent studies have
munity in North Korea. United States Institute ent identities and lets cus- year by Dr. Paul Wallach, shown that graduates in in-
Among the targets were of Peace, the Heritage tomers pay in anonymity- an executive associate ternal medicine and emer-
UNICEF, the U.N. World Foundation, the Social shielding cryptocurrency, dean. He created a simi- gency medicine may miss
Food Program, the U.N. Science Research Coun- said Jeremy Richards, a lar program five years ago as many of half of murmurs
Development Program, cil, the East-West Center Lookout researcher. q
at the Medical College of using a stethoscope."q