Transforming your smartphone into a stethoscope

Those who are new to the exciting world of 3D printing often choose to create a simple personalized smartphone case as their first project.

 However, Suman Mulumudi decided to take things one step further.

Using an Atmel-powered Makerbot Replicator 2, the high school student turned his iPhone into a stethoscope with a unique 3D printed case (Steth IO) designed to collect and relay low-frequency sounds. 

After 3D printing a number of Steth IO prototypes, Mulumudi founded a company known as StratoScientific, which applied for a patent to cover the technology and is currently eyeing FDA approval for the innovative device.

“People have tried to put the microphone over the chest, but that doesn’t work,” Mulumudi, a resident of Washington state, told Blake Eskin of the official MakerBot blog.

“Interestingly enough, that’s how the first stethoscope was invented.”

In addition to the Steth IO, Mulumudi has also prototyped the LesionSizer, which leverages the technology behind an optical mouse to help doctors performing angioplasties select the appropriate stent.

Mulumudi now attends Seattle’s Lakeside School, where Microsoft founders Paul Allen and Bill Gates went to school.

“People like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Howard Schultz — mostly Washington people — they all did one thing: They took an idea and expanded that concept into something that changed the world,” he added.