# A breakthrough mobile phone technology that aids in early detection of COPD - TABA fund supplement

> **NIH NIH R43** · TELE-STETHOSCOPE INC. · 2024 · $6,500

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract: This application is for TABA funds as a supplement to the
following phase I project.
COPD is the fourth leading global killer, in part, because of the failure of frontline medicine to
detect the disease. Poor early detection leads to unfavorable outcomes and high healthcare
costs. Tele-stethoscope* or “TS” is novel technology that allows acoustic data captured from
ordinary mobile phones to perform robust analysis of hemodynamics and pneumodynamics.
TS is intended to be used in primary care particularly in Tele-health and before scheduled
physical examination. Its purpose is to alert primary care physicians to the need for physical
examination and possibly referral. In these situations, there are no other comparable testing
options.
TS has three important innovations. First, is a clinical use innovation which brings remote,
impromptu patient evaluation to anyone with a smartphone. Customer discovery has validated
both a workflow and reimbursement strategy consistent with commercial success. Further,
FDA guidance suggests viability of agency clearance. Second is TS’s novel approach to
making AI algorithms. TS uses acoustic data, captured by OEM phone microphones, into
rigorous, physics-based features that describe organ hemodynamics and pneumodynamics.
The features or independent variables are then used to create binary classification models
with logistic regression. By relying on physics, TS never has to use neural networks or
overfitting strategies that have raised concerns about data intensity, model stability, regulatory
transparency and unknown reliability. The third innovation is that, by relying on passive
acoustic data, TS classifies organ function by observing organ dynamics directly rather than
from forced air capacity. TS uses many ideas from physics that were not available until fairly
recently. By relying on dynamics, TS offers a novel approach to forced air that may eventually
be additive to our understanding of respiratory conditions even in PFT labs.
This will be the third large scale human study that demonstrates classification of cardio -
pulmonary functionality. It follows a published study on COVID detection as well as soon to
be published study on the ability of TS to reproduce echocardiogram estimates of ejection
fraction. Analysis of stethoscope recordings suggests that the COPD diagnostic will rely on
a combination of right heart side hemodynamics and low frequency lung pneumodynamics. A
significant body of research is presented which validates the use of mobile phones as an
auscultation device with the ability to detect and diagnosis COPD.
The Aim of this study is to develop, evaluate, and test an algorithm that allows ordinary mobile
phones to detect COPD. Our hypothesis is that TS technology can detect COPD by matching
phone acoustic recordings to diagnosis. Diagnosis will be determined by a physician after
considering gold standard testing. Performance of the models will be evaluated by using...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11080815
- **Project number:** 3R43HL169087-01A1S1
- **Recipient organization:** TELE-STETHOSCOPE INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** David Wolfson
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $6,500
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2024-06-01 → 2024-09-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11080815

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11080815, A breakthrough mobile phone technology that aids in early detection of COPD - TABA fund supplement (3R43HL169087-01A1S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11080815. Licensed CC0.

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