On the eve of the 200th anniversary of its invention, the medical stethoscope may be on the verge of being replaced by a portable device that plugs into a smartphone.

With HeartBuds—developed by Dr. David Bello, chief of cardiology at Orlando Health—doctors use a small, portable plastic listening device shaped much like the head of a traditional stethoscope. When a smartphone app is activated, sounds from the hand-held device can be played through the smartphone speaker and images appear on the screen showing rhythmic blips that correspond with each sound.

Until now, only those wearing a stethoscope could hear what was taking place. With this technology, healthcare providers can control the volume, listen to and discuss sounds with patients in real time and record the sounds for future reference.

When the app is activated, sounds can be played via smartphone speaker and images appear on the screen. Image credit: Orlando Health. "This could change the way we approach patient exams,” says Bello. The traditional stethoscope was invented in 1816 by René Laennec at the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris.

Clinical tests of the new technology have demonstrated its effectiveness compared with traditional stethoscopes. In the tests—whose results were presented in November at the American Heart Association’s 2015 Scientific Sessions—doctors examined 50 patients and compared the performance of HeartBuds to two U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved class I and class II stethoscopes as well as a commonly used disposable model.

The HeartBuds smartphone-based device reportedly performed as well as the more expensive and more commonly used class I and class II stethoscopes in detecting heart murmurs and carotid bruits, which are sounds in the neck that indicate moderate to severe blockage of the carotid artery. HeartBuds also reportedly exceeded the performance of the disposable stethoscope model, which missed the presence of heart murmurs in 43% of instances and carotid bruits almost 75% of the time.

These findings may be significant because many healthcare facilities have begun using disposable models after studies showed there can be potentially a 30-40% risk of transmitting harmful bacteria through stethoscopes, according to study author Valerie Danesh, RN, Ph.D, research and clinical grants manager at Orlando Health. “These findings may cause some to reconsider that practice,” she says. The HeartBuds device does not have earpieces and thus avoids concerns over bacterial transmission.