Update below When Dr. Raj Kapoor, the CEO of Rijuven, talks about how its Cardiosleeve device fits into the electronic stethoscope market, he sees it as achieving something that no other company has. While most businesses in this area have focused on developing entirely new stethoscopes, his company’s FDA approved device converts acoustic or “normal” stethoscopes into electronic stethoscopes and portable electrocardiograms.
But how does it fit into the electronic stethoscope market? Is the market even big enough for a scrappy new contender?
To better appreciate the electronic stethoscope market it’s helpful to look at some of the design innovations in the space, which reader feedback from a recent article looking at Rijuven’s device, helped bring to my attention.
Since Dr. René Théophile Hyacinthe Laennec set his mind to the task of interpreting heart and lung sounds, several design needs have led to improvements such as developing better sound quality, reducing ambient noise, recording and sharing audio tracks, and improving hygiene. (To check out a slideshow on this subject click here)
It’s a small market. Electronic stethoscopes still account for a relatively small percent of the stethoscope market, according to Dr. Amgad Makaryius, a cardiologist and the director of cardiac, CT and MRI for the North Shore-LIJ Health System. He noted that the majority of stethoscopes in use are the non-electronic variety. Why?
“Over the years, there have been very few changes to the basic auscultatory principles of the stethoscope itself and the physician’s ability to differentiate between normal and abnormal sounds generated by the human body remains essential in clinical practice for correct diagnosis.”
Update The value of the global stethoscope market is expected to reach $342 million by 2017, according to data from Global Industry Analysts. Electronic stethoscopes make up only a small portion of these sales.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Another reason is that stethoscopes are very personal to their owners. Doctors and nurses generally receive them at the start of their medical careers and hold onto them. Patients identify them as a device that’s an important component to building trust. So if there’s going to be innovation it has to add something important.
What’s driving innovation?
The reasons behind the innovations in this emerging market center around a few things. For one, the aging baby boomer population and let’s face it, the personal stereo owners among us, are losing their hearing to some extent. Two people might interpret heart and lung sounds very differently.
As early as 1924 inventors have attempted to develop an electronic stethoscope. One of the first renderings by Western Electric was designed so that two people could listen at once to an amplified sound, according to .
More modern models have addressed this by including multiple tracks to record heart sounds to aid consultation. 3M’s Littmann 3200 series has 12 tracks to record sounds. It’s relied on focus groups of cardiologists and nurses to improve design. Software supporting the device helps users transmit the data to electronic health records. It also has Bluetooth technology.
Telemedicine is also set to play a critical role in electronic stethoscope market growth. A nurse practitioner in Montana could use an electronic stethoscope on a patient that could be heard and interpreted by a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic. But that market segment has not yet reached the level where it’s making a substantial difference in the stethoscope market.
Makaryius also said: “Advances have been seen recently in the techniques used to process auscultatory signals as well as in the analysis and clarification of the resulting sounds. There have also been advances in the processing and meaning of these signals for further understanding of the many varied physiological processes occurring in the human body.”
Although innovations are driving this market, they can be very hard to get right. For example, it’s tough to produce a stethoscope that can amplify heart and lung sounds without also increasing any ambient sounds. And if a major reason for paying a higher price tag is to improve sound quality, it kind of defeats the point if the device can’t achieve that.
Several companies appear to be active in the electronic stethoscope realm such as ThinkLabs, A&D Medical, American Diagnostic Corporation, but in what’s a relatively small market it’s hard to determine the companies that lead the sector beyond 3M. Underscoring the complex balance of advancing technology in what’s already an elegant device with a price tag that makes sense for physicians and nurses, several companies have gotten out of this market or stopped developing new models.
Rijuven could impact the stethoscope market because it acknowledges the personal connection to medical professionals and their stethoscopes. It also is helpful for patients when hospital access is an issue and an EKG would be useful. Its flexibility acknowledges the unease doctors might have in buying an entirely new stethoscope. It seems to a strike a balance between the concern that ausculatory skills continue to be emphasized with the advances in new technology that can be delivered at the point of care.
[Photo credit: The Jump Evolution from BigStock Photos]
