title: Usefulness of a new sound spectral averaging technique to distinguish an innocent systolic murmur from that of aortic stenosis.
abstract: We present a new method to record and display heart sounds that uses a hand-held computer and stethoscopic recording device. It allows for rapid spectral and waveform displays of murmurs and provides a means for signal averaging of spectral frequency content. Compared with aortic stenosis, innocent murmurs primarily contain frequencies of <300 Hz and persist for a shorter duration at the upper-frequency levels. This method provides for rapid characterization of innocent murmurs, a means for comparison with other murmurs, and transmission of acoustic data to distant sites.
authors.affiliation: The Indiana Heart Institute, Care Group, Inc., and St Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. mtavel@thecaregroup.com
authors.forename: Morton E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Tavel
authors.forename: Hart
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Katz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006326:Heart Auscultation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006337:Heart Murmurs / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010701:Phonocardiography; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013599:Systole