Thinklabs One Electronic Stethoscope Helps Physicians Overcome Challenges Of Treating Ebola Patients While Wearing Personal Protective Equipment

DENVER, Oct. 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Thinklabs, a global leader in the design, engineering and manufacturing of electronic stethoscopes, today announced that the company's Thinklabs One digital stethoscope is helping physicians across the United States more easily and safely treat patients confirmed to be infected with the Ebola virus.

The Thinklabs One digital stethoscope helps physicians overcome the challenges of listening to patients while wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Full body coverage prohibits the ability to wear acoustic or even other electronic stethoscopes that have tubing and traditional ear tips. Using the Thinklabs One electronic stethoscope, physicians don disposable earbud headphones prior to covering the face and body. The earbud cable is then snaked out of the protective clothing and connected to the Thinklabs One chest piece outside of the clothing.

The physician can then listen clearly to patient sounds at the bedside without compromising full body coverage and without having to get too close to the patient. A Bluetooth transmitter can also be used to transmit stethoscope sounds to a physician inside or outside the isolation room, and sound can be recorded on an iPad for transmission for a second opinion. The Thinklabs One can also be connected to loudspeakers and headphones, directly or via Bluetooth, offering hospitals great versatility in the design of their isolation, intensive care and general clinical solutions.

"The Thinklabs One is, without a doubt, superior in quality to traditional stethoscopes, but the fact that the earbuds can be comfortably and safely worn under PPE is what makes it so valuable to physicians treating Ebola patients," said Clive Smith, founder of Thinklabs and creator of the Thinklabs One. "Clinicians across the U.S. use this stethoscope every day, but the real testament to the importance of this technology can be seen in hospitals like Bellevue Hospital in New York and The Nebraska Medical Center, where it has been proven with Ebola patients. Without it, they were struggling to safely listen to their patients at the bedside."

Made in America, the Thinklabs One is designed for all clinical applications, with very high signal clarity and power output exceeding 100 times the sound level of a conventional stethoscope. Clinicians can choose from various filtering options for lung, heart and bowel sounds; record, play back, email and instant message sounds via iPhone, iPad, Android devices or personal computers for telemedicine and bedside teaching; and can be used with Bluetooth and other external audio devices.

About Thinklabs
Based in Centennial, Colorado, Thinklabs specializes in the development and manufacturing of electronic stethoscopes for clinical, mobile, telemedicine and special applications. Thinklabs conducts active research in stethoscope technology and design. The company holds numerous patents in body sound sensing and electronic stethoscope technology. Visit Thinklabs online at http://www.thinklabs.com

SOURCE Thinklabs