eMurmur, a Canadian firm, just won FDA clearance for its eMurmur ID system that spots and classifies heart murmurs, as well as S1, S2 heart sounds. The offering, the core of which resides in the cloud, relies on sounds recorded using a third-party electronic stethoscope.

The user simply pairs a Bluetooth-capable stethoscope to a smartphone running the eMurmur ID app and performs an auscultation. The app takes the sounds it receives from the stethoscope and passes those along to a series of algorithms that are applied on the cloud to the recording. These perform the signal analysis the results of which are almost immediately provided to the clinician.

It is hoped that with a system like this, primary care doctors will be able to screen patients for a variety of cardiac conditions that would normally require a cardiologist to notice. Moreover, specialty and employer-provided facilities may soon be able to take advantage as well.

“The eMurmur ID solution has the potential to disrupt medical care”, said Dr. Derek Exner, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Clinical Trials at the University of Calgary, in a published statement. “The evidence for its utility is solid and includes five studies on over 1000 patients, including blinded, multi-centre trials. This system has been shown to be accurate, informative, and easy-to-use. It provides healthcare professionals with a potent screening tool and method to confirm their clinical diagnoses, enhancing patient care.”

Here’s a quick demonstration of the eMurmur ID system: