ShareMedical Inc. and Foster Electric Company, Ltd. Specifically, the two companies will utilize Foster Electric's advanced acoustic technology in the medical and healthcare fields to jointly research and develop next-generation auscultation devices and acoustic equipment for medical use. Through this joint creation, the two companies aim to further improve the acoustic quality of the digital auscultation device "Nexstetho" and develop headphones, speakers, and next-generation auscultation devices optimized for weak and delicate auscultatory sounds.
Why "Acoustic Performance" is Important for Online Clinics
Physicians use all five senses during outpatient consultations. Generally, during the initial consultation, a diagnosis is made by combining "interview," "visual examination," "palpation," and "auscultation" or all of them as necessary. The important information in the examination is not only the patient's chief complaint but also objective facts. Biological sounds are the first important information that the physician obtains to make a diagnosis when the patient is unaware of the pathology.
In face-to-face consultations, a large amount of information could be obtained from the patient's gestures, speech, and biological sounds obtained with a stethoscope, but in online consultations, the information that is taken for granted is not available, and many physicians are hesitant to examine the patient. Although the ban on online medical care was lifted for the Corona Disaster based on the current consultation, it has not become widespread. This is because a strict diagnosis cannot be made with only the interview and visual examination using images and videos used in conventional online medical services. Physicians need less information to make a diagnosis compared to conventional face-to-face medical services. In addition, patients are worried that they will not be able to communicate their medical conditions correctly and that mistakes will be made.
ShareMedical Inc. has acquired a basic patent for "remote auscultation," which is an online medical examination combined with an examination and aims to develop an online medical examination model that enables objective diagnosis based on clinical data, rather than just a medical interview. The first practical application of this technology was the medical MaaS "mobile clinic" in Ina City, Nagano Prefecture, which was cited as a successful case study in the Digital Rural City concept. However, the company believes that a potential issue unique to online medical care, namely, the difficulty of hearing conversations in the quality of general online medical services, is one of the factors hindering the spread of online medical services, and it hopes to resolve the relatively neglected issue of sound in the medical field.
Foster Electric Company, Ltd.
Location: 1-1-109 Tsutsujigaoka, Akishima City, Tokyo
Summary: With the vision of "contributing to the future society with sound", we contribute to society through sound and vibration solutions based on our original technology and accumulated know-how as a sound specialists.
For inquiries, please contact
Marketing Department (medmarketing@foster.co.jp)