iStethoscope Pro support page

Hi all. PLEASE HELP URGENTLY. In which MODE I will be able to hear the heartbeat ? I tried all modes but ended in vain...

Hmm. It seems this site has been inactive for a while!

I have a suggestion: add the capability to change sound output. It would be great to be able to use the app in real time when necessary using my Bluetooth headphones. I don’t always have my stethoscope handy, but I do always have my phone and some form of Bluetooth headset. Also, output to an Apple TV could be very useful for training purposes.

Hi Dayna,

the app does still work on the iphone 5. If you’re using the white in-ear headphones then the app will use the inline microphone. If you prefer to use good quality headphones then yes, the new position of the socket makes life more difficult. What you need to do is unplug the headphones and place the phone with the mic against your skin for 10 seconds, then touch the stethoscope image or shake the phone to switch to playback mode. While it plays back you can then plug in your headphones to listen. No, I don’t know why Apple moved the ear socket to the bottom - doesn’t make any sense to me either.

Peter.

I saw the same question I have but didn't see a response. Does it work with iphone 5? I can't seem to get it to and I believe it might be because the mic is too close to the port for the earphones so I can't have the earphones in and get the mic pressed down to skin. Is there a way to get around this?

This App Saved My Life ! I was involved in an accident and broke my collar bone and had a huge Hematoma on my thigh.After getting a plate to repair my collarbone I asked the doctor if they should drain the Hematoma, he said they let it releive naturally.I explained to him that I was flying to the Carribean in a couple of months, would it be ok, he said yes.In a couple months I flew to the Carribean and the day after I landed had some terrible back pains,thought I had kidney stones, went to the hospital down there and they had admitted me over night. The next day they said I could go home and that I had a muscle spazim, the pain had subsided butI could feel a small weize like symptom in my back. I told the doctor about it and by the time him came to listen it was gone. I went back to the resort and tried to enjoy the rest of my vacation. Every night between 12:00 AM and 4 to 5:00 AM I could feel this weizing noise from my back it was very suttle, yet nothing when I laid at the beach or anything during the day. I kept a record of everything I did,ate,drank and even what exact times this happened.As soon as I got back to Canada I made an appointment with a doctor and told her about my situation, they did some blood tests on me and found them to be out of wack.They sent me to a specialist and they did all kinds of testing on me including lung testing and everything seamed fine. All this time I was still having the weizing feeling at night and told them that it only happens at night but they said that didn't make much sense I also told them they should admitt me over night so they would hear it and they said they couldn't do that. Back and forth I went to doctors for about two or three weeks and nothing. One night I was laying in bed feeling the weize and wondered if my voice recorder would pick it up...it didn't and then I thought " I wonder if there is an app for a stethoscope and I found the Isthethocope and paid for the pro. After learning how to use it on Youtube I was ready for the next night. The next night like clockwork there was the noise and I recorded it on my Isthethoscope and emailed it to myself.The next day I called the Doctor and mad an appointment with them. I showed up for my appointment and it was the same thing they couldn't hear anything, I told them I had recorded it using the Istethoscope and wanted them to listen, at first they kind of snickered at it but after listening to the noise they went and got the head doctor. He was quite amazed at the noise and ordered a CT scan with contrast dye right away. An hour later I was in the emergency room with a Pulmonary Embolism. I feel very lucky to be here telling his story. That was Dec. 2011 If I hadn't been able to record it and show it to the doctors who knows what would have happened! Thank you Peter Bentley! This App Works!

Hi Lou, the limit of 8 seconds was placed because of practical reasons - the app records uncompressed CD quality sound as MP3 compression can distort the audio and introduce noises that might sound like heart problems. The trouble with CD quality is that the audio files are very big, so anything more than 8 seconds becomes very cumbersome to email and eats up a lot of system memory. Also, my cardiologist collaborator tells me 8 seconds is enough for them, so that's why we chose that number.

Hi Sara Bradley, I am so pleased to hear that everything turned out well for you and your baby. It's wonderful to think that this app could have been helpful for you. Thanks for sharing this story. [For the others who cannot make the app work, please check out the videos - I know from experience that with some body types it can be *really* tough to find the sweet spot to listen, but I've always managed it in the end. If there's a sound, then this app can amplify it for you Patience and practise will win out.]

Hi, this did not work for me at all.. I tried with an expensive pair of head phones, cheap pair of head phones, nothing worked. And no they didnt have a mic on them... I just dont see why I'm paying 99 cents for something that doesn't work, just like when you go to a store to get something, you take it home.. it doesn't work what do you do? You return it and get your money back. I just think it was a waist and would like a refund. How do I go about that?

Hello!

The app works very well and is among the best out there in terms of auscultation apps for the iPhone. Do you have any plans on extending the recording time from 8 seconds to a minute or more?

I would like to create longer recordings if that’s at all possible.

Before you get too exited about all the positive and perhaps false testimonies published on this site, read some of the reviews on AppStore. Not one happy customer, just 100% dissatisfaction.

I want to share my story with you. My husband and I are both RN's. So of course we have our own top of the line stethescopes. I found your app and thought it would be fun to have on my iphone. I was pregnant with our third little girl and thought I could use it to listen to her heartbeat. When I was 7 months pregnant she had decreased movements. I was concerned and tried using my stethescope to try a hear her heartbeat. I couldnt hear anything so I got the istethesope app out and was able to hear her heartbeat. Being a nurse I knew that it should be much faster than our so I was not concerned with the rate. I was more relieved that she still had a hearbeat. This was on the 4th of July. So the next day I call my OB and went in to have her checked out since she still was not moving. After the doctor listed to hear heartbeat with the ultra sound machine I was sent to the hospital. She was in distress. Her heart rate was well over 260. When I told them I had used your app to listen to her heartbeat the day before they did not believe that it worked. I was able to tell them that the rate was the same as what I heard the day before. So they were able to determine she was had been in heart failure since at least the day before. I was flown by helicopter to San Franciso where she was born by emergency C section. She was resusitated several times in the first 24 hours of her life. The doctors werent sure she would make it. But I had faith and knew God would answer my prayers. She was in the NICU for 4 weeks and came home a few days after her due date. I am happy to report she is now 18 months old and has been off heart medications for one year. She is truly a miracle and has no long term effects from her traumatic birth. Now all my friends have gotten the App you created as well as many of the nurses who took care of us. I want to say thank you for creating this App. It played a large role in saving the life of my little miracle, Emily.

Has anyone had any sucess in getting iStethPro to work on the iPhone5? If so what special settings are there only I don't get any response from it at all.

AWESOME! So appreciated! I have downloaded, purchased and actively tried every Stethoscope and Auscultation App offered - none work comparatively. I use iPhone 4 - remove case - internal mic direct contact to skin - headphones (without mic) - updated "Settings" exactly as noted above - works perfectly.  I have recorded Pure Heartbeats and emailed (to myself).  The files can easily be opened from email and listed to on my iPhone.  For further use and tracking, I have downloaded Audacity on to my Desktop and have just started filing the tracks by making Projects.  Each Audacity project holds data from a specific date/event and each file is labeled so I can keep several within one Project (not audio experienced so I appreciate this has been easy to organize)  I can mute and play sound/audio clips separately with no problems.  (BTW playback on my desktop's internal speakers sounds great for my use and makes it super easy to compare sounds).  Each Heart.caf file downloads directly into each Audacity Project from my email on my iMac Desktop (OSX 10.8.2). I am not sure how to "edit or adjust" audio files other then trim the clip at either side. I am not sure I should clean them up for improving or if need to before saving as another type of file. I want to keep these recordings as PURE as possible to send these to my MDs (not sure how is best or what format to save these or if I should use Soundcloud or similar platform for sharing) The Spectrogram JPEG is also a very appreciated aspect - including both audio clip and a JPEG of the Spectrogram is great!  I really think this is amazing - for me it is ideal. Hoping MDs find it useful too, see future possibilities / opportunities - patients providing / collecting actual case / history data to offer in support of their own health.  I really appreciate this platform to track and record for my own purposes, knowledge and understanding.  I know by no way is it a diagnostic tool but, any means of collecting a recorded base of information for review / tracking / comparison is helpful.  I would think it is reassuring and confidence building for those who maybe worry too much about their health / condition, regardless of the situation. It allows an individual to hold some control, recording and listening to actual data - not just memories, recall and having to use the words "feel like".  As far as I can tell, it's consistent, which is most important in any data recording and collecting, for the comparison sake alone.  The details / differences I am recording and tracking are obvious and clear.  Each recording may not be from the same exact place or same volume or perfect in any way as  I am not a MD (obviously) and this is a tool for me, not a medical professional to use actively.  I have no idea what would be more expected for an ideal way for a patient to track heartbeat sounds in real life (in real time) episodes / effects / symptoms / events etc .. experienced.  Bottom line, for me, iStethoscope Pro is IDEAL.  EASE and CONVENIENCE to record just with iPhone for tracking, to include unanticipated events, anytime and anywhere, is ideal. Save files via email to self, replay from email on iPhone, email directly to share. The iStethoscope Pro App is great as is.  I appreciate the ability and guidance you provided for further use of this App, as my purpose is to record and collect a base of information. This Application is more then appreciated. Thanks so much for your time, ideas, attention and dedication to this project!

I just searching this kind of things in search engines. My searching was ending here. Keep up your good work. I bookmarked it for general updates.

very good

Hi Jim, I can no longer support the first generation phones as both hardware and software has changed so much since then.

I've bought this app but i can't hear anything on my first generation iphone. please help

Hi Shelby, this is a problem with Apple, not the app. If you log in with the same Apple ID that you used to buy the app, and select the app before syncing in iTunes then it should be transferred to your new device. I hope this helps. Peter.

Hi "faulty heart", the display only provides the spectrogram because that's the important part for cardiologists. Do see your doctor if you are concerned about your heart. Peter.

Hi there I have bought this app on my old iPhone and now got a new one and it's asking me to buy the app. I've already purchased and won't let me get it again. I'm not happy.

Hello. I am getting a good reading and when I view the spectrograph on the phone it looks good but the jpeg that it emails only has the short purple lines at the bottom not the waveforms.Can you help please because I would like to show my doctor.

Hats off to you Peter J Bentley...

Hi Stacy, other comments from users have suggested that it is possible to use the app to listen to your baby's heart. Note that I would suggest you put the phone into airport mode first - although harmless, it is maybe better not to have radio signals so close to your baby. Advice on where to place the microphone can be found on sites like this:http://www.ehow.com/how_5589503_hear-baby_s-heartbeat-pregnant.html

Hi John, it is a known feature of the iphone 4 that the frequency response of the built-in microphone is not as good for lower frequencies. However, with correct placement of the microphone and increased amplification settings it is normally possible to come very close to the quality from the iphone 3G. Keep practising and you should be able to get a better sound!

Hi Per, sometimes the AppStore does not install apps correctly and the Settings do not appear. Best thing is to delete the app, restart the iphone and then reinstall the app again, then it should be fine.

Hi Paul, I make it clear in the instructions that the heart sound is very low frequency - this means that you will never hear the sound well through the built in speaker, nor the white earphones. For best results use good quality headphones and the microphone built into the device.

Can it be compiled to Android?? This is an extra and big market

I'm in need of some help please. I'm currently 6months preagnant and I'm trying to listen to my babys heart beat. Is it possible to do that with the stethoscope app? I can always hear my heartbeat when ever I put it to my belly, but I can't hear my babies heart beat?

On iPhone 4 (with settings tweaked as you recommend) I am getting a good heartbeat but much quieter than indicated on your videos, and the spectroscope signal is just about non-existent, even at the most zoomed in setting. Is this a "known issue" with the iPhone 4, and/or is there anything I can do about it? Using Bose NR headphones.)

Hi, I cant activate the app. That side will not display. What can I do?

When I first tried iStethPro I wasn't sure it was working properly, for a couple of reasons: (1) I expected the heartbeat to be heard through the iPhone built-in speaker. Couldn't hear a thing. (2) I next used my iPhone headset, and got a very noisy waveform. Eventually I figured out that the microphone sends audio noise into the iStethPro recording, obscuring the heartbeat.

With that experience in mind, here are a couple of friendly suggestions that might be helpful to other users: (1) Until you provide the option of amplifying the heartbeat through the iPhone speaker, indicate in your Help info that it cannot be done.
(2) Until you program iStethPro to filter the audio input from iPhone headsets, in your Help info advise iPhone users not to use the iPhone headset while recording. They can still record and, when done, plug in the iPhone headset to listen to the waveform.

Hi petreme, Janet and Tim, at the moment we are examining the regulations so that we can turn this app from a fun demonstration of the technology into a full medical device. Once we've cleared that, we do aim to produce versions for other phones and operating systems. I have interest and support from medical companies now so watch this space!

hi peter, am very intetested in this app though am android based. I am a veterinary surgeon and more than happy to do some testing for you if it is of assistance. I note that there is potentially some concern with misuse in the human field. Would clinical animal testing vs the trained human ear be of help?

I would like the clock to show up so I can count the beats. Is it available for Blackberry with an extern mic or bell?

Hi. Your soft is perfekt. Please and for WM or WP7 system preparing version? Thank You

Hi Medasen, we're looking at other operating systems and phones at the moment. The problem is that most phones do not have microphones that are good enough to pick up the low frequencies of heart beats.

does this work on any other Nokia Symbian phone or will you make one for symbian

Hi Peter,

Audacity works, but still not sure why the file won’t open in anything else. Anyway, thanks for your help!

Hi Vlad, many thanks for your message. Your problems with the audio file seem very strange - the file is basically a standard aif format (as used on CDs) wrapped in the caf, so changing the extension to aif should always work. Try downloading the free (and very good) audio program Audacity (which I recommend as you can plot more detailed spectrograms). This will read the .aif file and allow you to export as any format you prefer. The image file is identical to the one you see on the iphone screen, so you're not losing any information, it just strips out the background image and waveform to leave the spectrogram alone. I hope this helps!

Hi, just left a 5-star review for the app on iTunes, worked the first time I tried it, very impressed!

However, I do have a couple of issues. The emailed jpg file of the cardiogram and the sound file don’t work for me. The jpeg file is very low res (460x235), and not clear at all, literally just shows a few squiggles at the bottom. Whereas on the iphone screen, prior to emailing it, it looks really good.

The bigger problem is the sound file, which simply doesn’t work. I tried it in WMP, Quicktime and iTunes. WMP simply says it can’t play it, Quicktime gives the following error message: “Error -39: the end-of-file was reached” without even launching Quicktime first. iTunes simply does nothing. I read through some of previous comments, and your advice, and tried changing the file name (originally, the files were named Heart.caf but when downloaded to PC, they became Heart.caf.aiff). I tried removing the .caf bit, tried removing one “f” at the end of aiff, nothing helps.

The other problem I had is that the app doesn’t seem to work at all with my Sony DR-BT50 bluetooth headphones. I suspect one of the reasons for this is because they also have a built in microphone, and in previous comments, I saw you recommend to use headphones without built in microphones.

Thanks for your help, I’d really like to be able to have working recordings of my experiments!

Hi Sonja, we are planning on a machine learning research project to try and detect the difference between normal and abnormal heart sounds. Whether we will be able to detect specific conditions is currently unknown...

Love it! Checked out myself, my friend, and his dog, and was surprised to see that my heart rate at the time was closer to that of the dog (120bpm)... (also interesting to see the differences in relative strengths of diastole & systole phases) I'm hoping to use this to finally record my skipped beats. Do you have any plans to add data analysis, e.g. estimated heart rate, irregularity, etc? Thank You

Natasha - if the app says "failed to initialise audio" when you press the mode button, then restart your phone and try again. If pressing mode does select a listening mode successfully then you're probably using the wrong headphones - see the new "sad smiley" video above. Peter.

I have a problem using this app! I can't get any sound? seems ti be stuck on mute. What should I do? Thanks

Hi David - the colours in the spectrogram image correspond directly to an analysis of the sound, so the pixels are basically data which could be read by another program. If I also included the background image that would be adding noise to the data. So I prefer to keep it as pure spectrogram alone.

Peter, thank you for taking the time to reply to my problem. The only thing I could not understand was when you wrote ".....to enable people to get a clearer view of the data alone". ?????

Thanks.

Hi and thanks for the comments! Andreas I understand your reluctance to upgrade to firmware 4 but I found it necessary to recompile in order to keep the app compatible with the majority of devices. David, I'm glad you're enjoying the app. It's a deliberate decision not to include the background graph in the emailed spectrogram to enable people to get a clearer view of the data alone. If you want to see this kind of graph in more detail, import the sound file into Audacity. (Just change the .caf into .aif as it's basically the same format here.)

This app is superb. When sending the files by email I discover that on the jpg photo the graph does not appear. The photo is almost white.

Am I doing something wrong?

Hello,

is the older version that works with firmware 3 still available somewhere? I am hesitant to upgrade my 3 GS. Never change a winning software. Thanks. Andreas

Now sorted following your response to Simon Baker. Suggest make it clearer that the standard white ear phones should not be used. Thank you.

Hi Simon,

thanks for your message (it was not in my support page so I’ve moved it below). I’m sorry you’re having trouble - here are the common reasons: 1. you may have the white earphones plugged in which means the inline microphone is being used, yet you are touching the base of the phone to the subject - hence no sound. 2. you may have headphones that cannot play low enough frequencies so you are not able to hear the heart. 3. you may have an iphone case around the device, which prevents you from touching the built-in mic close enough to the skin. 4. you may need to alter the audio amplification and filter settings (this app is basically just amplifying and filtering sound, so if the mic is in the right place and the settings are right, and the headphones are right - you will hear the sound!) 5. I have no idea if the microphone will work through fur (although some claim to have used this for their pet cats) I hope this helps. Let me know how you get on! Peter.

Dr Bentley, I'd really like this App to work, but I can't get it to do so. I'm a vet and I'd like to record abnormal hear sounds in animals and demonstrate them to clients. Having not replaced my broken Littmann electronic stethoscope this seemed like a cheap way and neat to achieve the same end

It clearly picks up sound when using the Clear Sound and Conversation modes, but I get nothing from the Heart modes in either myself or in my dog.

It’s not just a matter of accurate placement. I put it over the obvious apex beat of my whippet so the iPhone is actually bouncing up and down on her heart but the sound recording yields nothing, zero, nada, zilch. Quite annoying.

Yes, it takes years to learn how to use a stethoscope. I’ve been using one for 25.

Any comments?

Hi guys, please just play the youtube videos to see how to activate the app. All the instructions are there.

I do not find any settings to activate the software....

I try to scroll down and nothing to do

@pip

You have to reboot for that red bar to disappear. I have the same problem.

Seems if I slide my fingers around the graph area I will suddenly get this problem. Maybe the app crashes but leaves something running in the background that can’t be gotten rid off unless you do a reboot.

I just bought your Istethoscope Pro and installed it on my iPhone 4 which it running the latest software/firmware. But I find no way to activate the application as I can not find a way to get to the settings to do this. I know, based at looking at users comments on iTunes that I am not alone with this problem. Please help!

I am a doctor and musician, fascinated by your app. The accelerometer sounds great! But I can't get any heart sounds. When I touch the mic on my iPhone 3GS I do not hear the surface noise as shown in your video. The mic does however seem to work in Conversation and Clear Sound modes. Any suggestions? Thank you.

i have a constant red header bar .its really annoying, how do i remove it. uninstalling does,nt help.

Hi Melanie, the points of where to listen are the same for women as for men - check out the youtube videos. However of course many women - and some men - find it harder to listen at the apex of the heart (which is tight underneath the left breast) so you should try the other locations shown - for example at the base of the sternum. Just remember that you are trying to avoid bone, fat and muscle for the clearest sound, so it is important to listen just below or to the left of the sternum, between the ribs, over the heart. If you really get stuck, some people find they can listen to the pulse in their necks.

Oh great!!!!!!! make it available for Android too both are linux good luck developing

it would be most helpful if you would show how to find the heartbeat on a womnan.

Hi folks, thanks for the comments. Marc and Bob - the default settings for Heartbeat Pure are designed for the 3G(S). The trick is to find the right spot to listen, press against bare skin, no iphone case, use good quality headphones with no inline mic, and press the mic in the phone to your chest. See the youtube vids for help finding the spot - sometimes one spot works better for different people. You can zoom into the spectrogram display using the General, Spectrogram Scaling option. You could also try the medical trial option as this uses settings designed to give the clearest possible sound. Tony - it sounds like you've had a crash on a 3G phone running firmware 4. Very occasionally if the phone is running low on memory or you've switched from another misbehaving app this can happen. You need to turn your phone off and on again and it will clear.

Using the latest pro version which seems to be OK only thing I can't seem to do is turn the app off when I finished with it. It continues to pulse & run as my phones header. Can you please advise. Thanks

Peter, running your app on a 3GS. Can hear heart beat fine but spectogram shows very little. Have I got some settings wrong?

What are the best settings to use to get it to work with 3GS? The default settings don't seem to work.

Hi David, you need an external microphone for it to work on the touch. The inline microphone in iphone earplugs does work, but with poor quality. For best results you need a really good quality external microphone. Peter.

does this work on my iPod touch ?

LATEST NEWS: a new version of iStethoscope Pro should appear soon on the App Store. This version has been recompiled and optimized for version 4.0 of the software - it will run faster on all devices and supports fast application switching on iPhone 4 devices. It also has some minor user interface tweaks and a better help system.

Hi Anthony, thanks for letting me know about this. I'll look into your problem and see what I can do, perhaps in a new version of the app. Peter.

i have used iSteth pro many times successfully, i can hear my heart very easily and clearly. However since I installed iOS 4 on my iphone 3g it often misbehaves, even after rebooting the phone, it sometimes fails to swap to the graph view when i tap the screen or shake it. If it does make it to the other screen, it sometimes freezes and i get the red bar at the top until reboot again.

Also it would be great if the option to scrub the last second could be extended, i often record a few seconds of rubbish before invoking the graph.

this is a very good app though, i hope you carry on developing it!

I have now tested iStethoscope Pro using the iPhone 4 and everything works fine. There are some differences in the microphone for this new device, so I have created a new page "iPhone 4 settings for iStethoscope Pro" for iPhone 4 users to change their audio settings: http://apps.peterjbentley.com/Blog/?e=50834&d=06/28/2010&s=iPhone%204%20settings%20for%20iStethoscope%20Pro

good

I have just tested iStethoscope Pro using firmware 4 on my iphone 3G. It works fine. Note that it is not designed to run in the background and has not been tested with a multitasking phone yet. After some effort I managed to make the program crash by running a badly behaving program beforehand. There seems to be a new feature of the firmware which shows the crashed program name "iStethPro" in red in the titlebar. I suspect this means it is still resident in memory - to remove it I restarted the phone and all was fine again. I aim to get an iphone 4 soon so I will try and update the app to make sure it is fully compatible, in the next few weeks.

Thanks for your comments Tobias. I will certainly consider your suggestions and if you have any specific requests for user interface, please let me know.

Dear Peter

I really like your app. It is amazing that I can listen to my heart by using my iPhone. Thanks for this. Two things I would love to see if you further adapt it. As an active triathlete I take my heart rate every morning manually and sometimes this can be a bit cumbersome. I think it would be quite easy to implement a feature like this in your app as well. As a first step you could just implement a timer so that one can listen and count the heart beats for a certain period of time - shown on the screen. I know there are other apps doing this but they do a poor job and are unusable. If you could also improve on the user interface on the main screen that would be great. Thanks for your help. Best regards Tobi

good

Hi Shane, yes we are looking at ECG at the moment. Your idea is interesting - I'll email you about it offline. Peter.

Mr. Bentley,

I am a first year med student, and I am interested to see if this application would work with a 2 lead ECG rigged from the microphone + and -. I plan on trying to see if the application would work, but I didn’t know if you have planned on a new application for ECG readings of the heart.

Thanks.

Hi Walter. Sorry for the delay in my response. I'm not quite sure what you're doing. You need to select a listening mode and then use the device to hear your heart. Any time you touch the stethoscope or shake the device it will switch to the spectrogram display and play the last 8 seconds back in a loop. Shake the device again or press the back button and it will switch back to the listening mode. When in the listening mode it continuously records; when in the spectrogram display it continuously plays back. Peter.

I haven't had a great deal of success but that's just me coming up to speed in finding the right places to listen. What does confuse/frustrate me is that when I touch the stethoscope button which then switches to the spectrogram, I switch back to the home page and it seems to keep repeating the recorded sounds. Even if I switch modes, and then press the stethoscope button back to hear more new sounds e.g. the active input, it seems to play back the same old recorded sounds in a loop? I've obviously got this mixed up. How do I record and then review new charts each time instead of being trapped in the loop. For example I am listening, then I think OK I will record this, then I push the stethoscope button ... or what? Thanks.

Hi Dwight, the program will probably struggle to run effectively on a 1G phone, especially when calculating the spectrogram. However it will not drain your battery in 15 seconds - this is more likely caused by a problem with the battery or a problem with the program that reports the battery levels. So you may have a problem with your device - do you see the same effect running other applications? Try restarting the iphone and if the problem persists, try restoring the software. Let me know if you still have problems. Peter.

Turned on the program with a freshly recharged battery present. The iPhone shut down within 15 seconds of program use, its battery completely discharged.

I have a 1G iPhone.

Any suggestions?

Hi, thanks for your comments. Right now the app relies on the excellent microphone and audio hardware of the iPhone. It's not clear whether other devices are also able to pick up the faint sound of heartbeats... I only have iPhones so I don't know!

Hello, I am a student of medicine, and this program is great! I wonder if there is any possibility of this program go to Symbian as I have only Nokia devices!

App is working perfectly for me but can you add the heartbeat counter from previous version and I can hear my blood in my veins (especially the one in the neck)too maybe you can add a blood pressure tool for that. And a longer spectrogram It supposed to have an advantage to normal Stethoscope right :D The App is awesome they should certificate it as a medical tool :)

Beck here...I did get it to work after all. Though none of the 3 tried sets of headphones were 'iphone' headphones (that is, none had an in-line mic that should cause the mic at the bottom to be turned off/ignored), either they were close enough or, in addition, it seems the phone volume is being reset to zero whenever your app opens. Tried 1 last set of old couldn't-possibly-have-been-trying-to-be-knockoff-iPhone headphones and readjusted the volume on the side button 1 last time and it worked!

Microphone not working in istethoscope- I activated as it requested and have tried all the different modes. Sound is on and I have messed with the volume for each setting. Without changing any general settings on the phone, I went to Voice Memos and it worked perfectly, as usual. I have used 3 different sets of headphones (none with the in-line mic), and I have heard nothing yet. No tatic, no noise when I tap the mic, nothing at all. I am running 3.0 pn a 3GS iPhone. Is there a 'mute all' in your program I am missing, or could it be a bad download? Other ideas? Like I say, my mic appears to work fine for other apps, as do all three sets of headphones. The fact that I can't even get any noise at a mic tap is the reason I think there is a problem beyond 'practice', etc. HELP!

Hi Ed, you are probably pressing too hard and activating the little button inside the inline microphone - this will start the other programs you mention. For best results use good quality headphones and press the bottom of the device to your heart, as shown in the videos.

I just installed iStethosocope Pro on a 3Gs. I have had several apparently random events while trying to hear my heart:

1. Voice Control screen appears at random;

2. My iPhone begins playing a music selection from my ipod app

3. This occurs when I am using my iPhone earbuds with the mike and using the in line mike as a pickup

Hi Erik, the microphone is a device issue - apps can't choose which microphone to use. A working iphone should automatically use its built-in mic when you plug in normal headphones. If yours does not do this, try a different set of headphones, and try using a different app such as Voice Memos to check the microphone. If still no luck try restarting the iphone, or even restoring the phone using iTunes. If it still doesn't work then you may have a faulty phone. I hope this helps!

Hi, The iStethPro is a great tool. But since I upgraded it on my 3GS it seems it only hears through the mic in the headphones. To properly use it like you show in the video, I need to have it use the built-in mic at the bottom of the iphone. How can I change it back so it uses the built-in mic? Also the iAuscultate is a great matching resource. Thanks, Erik

Hi Wesley. Only the old iStethoscope program (which is no longer available) reported "audio failed to initialise" - the new version "iStethoscope Pro" does not have that code in the program so it is impossible for it to report that error. I think you've got confused between the old and new versions. iStethPro is the new version, with email and Settings. This version is designed to work on firmware 3.x.

Peter, thanks for the response, what i failed to tell you was that , I was referring to the new one, the pro. The old one still works fine, but the new one is the one that keeps giving me the "audio failed to initialize". I just deleted the whole thing,, cant be bothered, too much hassle...

Hi ihab, medical doctors tell me that the program works best for heart sounds. If you want to hear lung sounds then one doctor recommended that you use Heartbeat Pure mode, but change the filter setting to 1.0 so that you can hear the higher pitched sounds of breath. (You can tailor the audio filtering to suit your own needs by altering all the filter settings.)

Hi Wesley, the original iStethoscope program only worked on firmware 2.x - for firmware 3.x it would report "audio failed to initialise" as you describe. iStethoscope Pro has completely rewritten audio routines and works on firmware 3.x. The original iStethoscope is no longer available. If you want the program to work on firmware 3.x, download and try iStethoscope Pro.

hello peter. i've left a comment on the blog. i'm very interested by the app. does it work for lung sounds? i think that detecting the lung sounds will be as interesting as detecting heart sounds.thx. ihab

HI Peter, I did leave a message on your Youtube site, I didnt see this one till I left a message for itunes. You say it needs better quality earphones, I have good ones, I am getting "audio fialed to initialise" is ee others have had the same problem. I had no problems with the Lite version, i have already spent way too much time trying to make this work. It might be a good idea to warn people ahead of time that its really hard to make it work. I am not a pro at this kinda stuff but am also not a novice. Tried all your previous suggestions, but nothing works, no graph nor any of the modes. I would have left a more favorable rating on itunes if i knew that I could have gotten a response here, once it works I will re-rate the stars. if it works. turbo

Hi Erik. Yes, this is a known iphone problem - the device will not always read from the Settings files. (It's a bug in the firmware.) To make it work, alter a numerical value (e.g. a spectrogram scaling value at the bottom) on the same page. After that the Settings values for that page will always be read, including the "Show spectrogram" value. To try to help users, the recent upgrade (1.02) makes the spectrogram on by default. Peter.

Hi Cristiana. Sorry this is an iphone app which uses the good quality audio hardware of the iphone to work.

Hi, a nice app, but I'm experiencing one glitch. I've set the spectrograph to "on" as you instructed with my iphone G3S settings, but when I record and shake it shows only the pulse line. What am I missing to get the spectrograph to show?

hi, can't be installed on a computer, an iBook, for instance? thanks

Hi Arvid,

thanks so much for your message. I’m waiting for a new version to be approved by Apple, which has two new options: you can ignore the last 1 second (which removes the sharp noise at the end of the recording) plus you can touch the stethoscope image and switch to the waveform without shaking. Hopefully this new version will be available in the next few days. (Note I also have a new app out called iAuscultate which you might be interested in.)

Peter.

hi again peter

im using istethpro recording sounds in the clinic and sharing with my fellow students, free advertising :) so far so good

some comments on the software

the low-pass filter of heart beat pure has to be switched (by setting alpha=1) off to make it possible to hear heart murmurs clearly since they have a higher frequency than the heart beat.

im using single-use examination gloves to cover my iphone during recording and to avoid transfer of patogens between patients - it doesnt effect sound quality at all as long as the part of the glove covering the mic is taught, have you tried it?

the shake-to-record function gives a sharp sound at the end of each recording (because of the shaking) and the recording time of 8 sec is a little short, would it be possible for you to introduce a record button and a recording time of say 20-30 sec? it would really make a difference!

thanks again for one of the coolest iphone apps

arvid

Bonjour Claude, Observez la vidéo appelée "Activation"

je ne sais pas activé le programe sur l'Iphone. Où se trouve le setting ? I d'nt hnow to actived the application ? Where's the setting? Merci de votre aide Claude

Love the program. Couple of features that I'd like to see. Ability to press a button on screen to see the history vs shaking. Ability to change the history length of 8 seconds to a higher value. Other than that great piece of software.

Hello Peter, Your advice to power off and "reboot" in a sense my iPhone did the trick... microphone works terrific now. How wonderful it is to have such immediate access to a helpful person such as yourself. Thanx so much. Best regards, Claire.

Hi Claire, thanks for your query. I think it's highly likely to be an issue with your iphone - you might want to try restarting it, and using normal headphones, not the white earphones. I'm also assuming you have iStethoscope Pro, which is the version you need for firmware 3.0

When I try to use the steth it says that my microphone is disabled. I checked all settings and can't find what to do. Help!

Hi Peter,

Like the program. I think is more sophisticated than other ‘amplification’ apps. I hope you can use these 6 suggestions to improve your nice application:

• switching between settings and the app can be annoying. We would like to see the settings within the App.
• change audio settings with sliders (instead of numbers) while listening
• the start-up screen keeps popping up when i launch the program and have to click it away (or wait). Better only have it the first time of behind a “Learn More..” button. When settings can be changed in the program this will also be less annoying
• default settings produce no heartbeat sound (at all) on iPhone 3GS. Please find the right settings for 3GS and make them default. (It saves some frustration for 1st time users) I think the main problem is the amplification (default is 0,25 and I needed 6 !)
• last part of spectogram is always useless and noisy so better sample -8,5 sec to -0,5 sec and skip the last half second
• heart beat count!

We can’t wait to see version 2 ..

Peter - I previously reported a problem with the 3GS - but it was my error. The fee for the API has been refunded by the iTunes store. I will try to purchase it again. Apologies. I have contacted Apple customer services to let them know it was my error.

Mat - read the comment from Rachel below. The app works very well using an iphone 3G S (actually even better because the device is faster), and yes it has also now been officially tested on this device. Problems are almost always caused by not placing the microphone in the right place and sadly this is something that's very hard to teach via the Internet. Please watch the videos and read the comments below for more advice.

Peter - I hear you say it 'should' work with the 3GS but all the comments from 3GS users state it does not work at all. I believe iStethoscope Pro DOES NOT WORK with the iPhone 3GS. Have you ever tested the application on a 3GS?

Thanks Peter, you rock! It worked beautifully. All I had was an old set of earbuds laying around and sure enough, I was able to hear my heartbeat clearly. Peter, looks like to trick for women to hear their heartbeat is to press the mic firmly under the left breast, just thought the ladies my want that little tip. Oh and, don't forget to turn the sound up! Thanks for the coolest ap ever!

Hi Rachel. I moved your question here to the proper place. The microphone in the iphone will only activate when you unplug the white earphones and use normal headphones instead. This is how the iphone behaves and is nothing to do with the app. (Also to change to different listening modes, just repeatedly press the mode button. Shake the device firmly to see the waveform, hear the last 8 seconds, and email the audio.) So my advice to you is - get some nice headphones! I use Sennheiser PXC300 because they are portable, have anti-noise and reproduce bassy heartbeats (and music) brilliantly, even on trains and planes.

Hi Peter Bentley, I imagine I'm probably putting this comment in the wrong place but I've been all over this website and this is the only place that I've found an opportunity to ask a question. First of all, I've watched your videos and think this application is really cool. Thank you for creating this! Now the issue. I can't get mine to work =( I have the new 32 gig iphone 3gs. I downloaded the first version of the ap and read that it doesn't work on the 3gs so a few days ago I purchased and downloaded the pro version. The mic on the bottom of my phone doesn't seem to turn on at all while in the ap. However, the mic on the headset string turns on. Also, inside the ap itself it says under heartbeat pure and also heartbeat "filtering heartbeat to improve sound clarity" and seems to be stuck on that, it's been saying that for days now no matter how long I leave the ap open and again, the mic at the bottom of my phone never turns on. I know my mic must be working properly because I have no trouble giving the phone voice commands. What am I doing wrong?? I wanna hear my heartbeat =)

I couldn't get it to work at first, but after trial and error on placement, I was able to hear my heart beat. Don't forget to turn up the volume on the 'phone'. I love the EKG strip. My Cardiologist has this app on his iPhone, and he loves it also. So my advice to those having problems, is to find that ultimate spot, and then you will hear it.

Hi Mikael, the only thing that would start your iPod would be if you are pressing the inline microphone too hard. This clicks its internal switch, which turns on the ipod and plays your music. At the same time it mutes the audio from iStethoscope Pro. The solution is to press the microphone *gently* to your skin. But I recommend you use good quality headphones and then press the iphone's built-in microphone to your heart - the white earphones are not really good enough.

Hi Robert. I'm sorry you are having difficulties hearing your heart. It is not always an easy skill to learn. First, you can tell if your earphones are good enough by listening to the videos - if you can hear the heartbeat on the vids, then you will be able to hear it on your iphone. If you can't hear it on the vids then you need better headphones. Second, it is important that you place the microphone very carefully - moving it all over your chest is not much use, because the heart is only audible at very specific places, and depending on your body type, it may be difficult to locate those places. My favourite is the apex: about 4cm below the left nipple. Try heartbeat pure mode, no iphone case, against bare skin, don't press too hard. Let me know how you get on. It's not easy - auscultation requires training, so this is not a skill that you should expect to have without practise. My cardiologist collaborator says: "People expect to learn what takes physicians years to learn - and they expect to hear things on the first try in seconds. These are innocently unrealistic expectations." Believe me (and my cardiologist collaborators) this app *does* work. I'll give some more help if you need it!

Well this app dosent work for me,everytime i plug in the headphones and start the app my ipod starts.Is there a setting in the iphone 3g i havent found or something else?

Bought the Pro version. I have the 3GS with quite expensive Shure ear buds. I have moved the iPhone all over my chest and get absolutely no heartbeat. I have tried the white ear buds that come with the iPhone still no heartbeat. I have watched the video read through your information and still it doesn't work. At this point it is a wasted $0.99. Please help or I have no choice other than to leave negative feedback.

Hi Erika, look at [FAQ3] below. It's basically just an aif file, so rename it to Heart.aif and you'll be able to read it in almost anything! Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

Hey Peter, I emailed myself a recorded heartbeat and I am trying to sort out whether or not I'm able to listen to it on my computer - I downloaded it, but it won't play in any of my applications. It opens itunes, but that's about the extent of it. As I wrote this, I downloaded it on my phone and was able to listen to it there, but I was hoping to hear it on my desktop. Any advice here? Great app, btw. I gave you a good review on itunes : )

Hi Dean, can you hear audio in any of the listening modes? Have you tried different headphones? You might have a conflict with a different app which has not shut down properly, so try rebooting the iphone. Also try going to Settings and changing the sampling rate to 22050 or 11025. Also try increasing the delay. Let me know exactly what happens when you run the app, in as much detail as you can, and I'll be able to help more. If there's a problem with the app, I will fix it!

Vladimir, go to the Settings and look at the numbers, then try changing them slightly. Look at the help page for details of what it means: http://www.peterjbentley.com/istethoscopepro.html

Downloaded pro. Deleted free version. On 3gs, still no audio. Able to see graph though

Hi, tks wher I can found "Look at the numbers used by the other modes to see some clues." tks v

Hi thedric, yes the app should work even better with the 3GS because it has faster hardware. (So you should be able to use a quicker accelerometer sampling rate, for example.) Also I encourage everyone to post their favourite settings here to help each other!

Hi vladimir, I guess you are using the white earplugs and the in-line microphone for better results with the 2G iphone. (Same for the Touch.) The only problem with the white earplugs is that they do not reproduce deep bass sounds very well, and heartbeats are mostly deep bass, especially in Heartbeat pure mode. So to hear the Heartbeat pure sounds properly you need good quality headphones. (Try emailing the "pure" audio to yourself and then listening using good headphones or a good hifi and you should hear it.) We're working on external microphones to solve this issue in the future, but for now you may prefer to alter the filters to suit your device. Try changing the filter settings by very tiny amounts and you should be able to make it work well for you. The exact settings depend on your device and where you are placing the microphone. Look at the numbers used by the other modes to see some clues.

does the pro version work with 3Gs?

Hi, I imagine that default settings (pro version for 3.0) was made for 3G, what settings number you will suggest me for 2G? Heartbeat filtered is work pretty good but with pure I didn't hear nothing, tks and good job

Latest news is that iStethoscope Pro has been approved by Apple and will be released on July 15. This program is the professional version with email, spectrogram and faster audio. Because of the extensive redevelopment work, I have decided to retire the original iStethoscope program. So if you are using firmware 2.x, you should use iStethoscope. If you are using firmware 3.0, please try iStethoscope Pro!

I have the new Iphone 3 GS and after I start the Istethoiscope in all of the modes, I receive the message Error. Audio failed to initialise. Where is the problem?

Thank you!

[FAQ6] I don't understand all the complicated numbers in the Audio Settings. What is alpha, beta, etc, and how do I change them? [A] The alpha value changes the low pass filter. A higher value means fewer high frequencies are heard (good for removing hiss and crackle). The beta value changes the high pass filter. A higher value means fewer low frequencies are heard (good for removing rumble). Normally when listening to heartbeats we only care about the low frequencies, which is why "Heartbeat pure" does not have a high-pass filter at all. Volume sets the initial volume level. Amplification sets how loud the audio will be (louder is not always better, as the sound may become clipped and distorted). Auto volume control activates or deactivates the AVC, which reduces the volume for over-loud sounds. Max-level sets the audio level at which AVC is activated - higher means louder sounds are permitted.

[FAQ5] I want to zoom in on the spectrogram display to see more details. [A] Go to iStethPro Settings, General, and scroll down. Here you can alter the spectrogram scaling: a smaller number means higher magnification of the lower frequecies (but the high frequencies will no longer be visible). The spectrogram is on a linear scale.

[FAQ4] The audio sounds strange/doesn't work. [A] For slower devices you may need to reduce the sampling rate. For best results, try 44100, 22050, or 11025. You may also need to increase the audio delay. Try 0.005, 0.01, or higher, until it starts to work. Note that changing the sampling rate will affect the filters and volume, so you may need to alter these settings to maximise the audio clarity. If you still have problems, try a slower update rate in the Accelerometer settings, and turn off the processor-hungry options such as spectrogram and pop-up info in General Settings.

[FAQ3] I want to read the audio in a different program. How do I read CAF format? [A] CAF is just a "wrapper" for aif. Just rename the file with a ".aif" extension and many more programs (including Audacity) will be able to read the file.

[FAQ2] How do I email my audio? [A] After you have heard 8 seconds of good quality audio, shake the device firmly. You will hear a replay of the audio and see its waveform. If the spectrogram is "on" in the settings you will also see the spectrogram. To email, press the little envelope in the corner of the waveform screen.

[FAQ1] When I press mode it says "iStethoscope Pro has not been activated." [A] You need to go to the Settings application, scroll down, select iStethPro, Activate, and select "on."