Audible-frequency medical diagnostic methods: Past, present and future

Abstract

From time immemorial, the medical practitioners used audible-frequency diagnostic methods (percussion, pulse tone analysis, lung, heart and abdominal sound listening) for diagnosing and treatment of ailments without much help from other tests. During the last century, despite the fact that the stethoscope became the sign of the physician, auscultatory techniques are becoming outmoded and are often considered of little clinical value in comparison with many other modern diagnostic technologies. But obviously, there is rich information on the normal and diseased states of human organs in audible-frequency signals since characteristic times for many physiologic processes and resonance frequencies of anatomical structures are in that frequency range. In recent years, numerous emerging technologies started to bring new life into the ancient diagnostic approaches using low-frequency signals. Significant part of these new technologies are based on ultrasonic methods such as remote detection of tissue oscillation using the Doppler technique and especially on emerging ultrasonic technologies based on the use of acoustic radiation force. This talk presents an overview of current trends in the development of methods realizing the tremendous untapped medical diagnostic potential of sonic range acoustics.