Improving Auscultation in Wearable Health Devices Integrating MEMS Microphones and Accelerometers

The integration of wearable technology in healthcare is gaining attention thanks to its potential to revolutionize patient monitoring and diagnostics. This study focuses on enhancing auscultation methods by utilizing both Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) microphones and accelerometers. The goal is to improve the quality and reliability of chest sounds acquisition in wearable devices, particularly under noisy conditions. Our research highlights the implementation of a heterogeneous sensor architecture designed for auscultation, the validation of signal processing techniques necessary to deal with operative noise, and the evaluation of the system’s performance in such conditions. The results demonstrate promising improvements in the detection of heartbeat signal, with a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) gain of 3 dB with respect to previous architectures, and more than 8 dB when relying on the newly integrated accelerometer sensor.