A DIY Attempt In Telemedicine

Summer of 2006, but not quite Bryan Adams' Summer of 69. A hot and humid day typical of the tropics. A man in his 40's was trying hard to beat the 'sands of time'. He had chores he needed to complete within a short deadline. He finished them successfully, but was exhausted and sweating profusely. On reaching home he felt an uneasy sensation. He was acutely aware of his heart beating irregularly, what we call palpitations. No one was home at that moment, what would he do now? He thought a way out, whereby, he could transform his subjective feelings (symptom) into an objective rendering, so that he could share his sensation with his medical colleagues. Clearly a ECG (EKG) was the best option, but he didn't have a device at home. So, he went on in his own ingenious way. He pulled out the microphone jack off his computer (desktop), and negotiated its small 'male plug' through the wide end of a funnel and pulled it out through the apex (figure shown); approaching from the base to the apex of the funnel. After the plug came out of the funnel, he pulled the wire gently out till the microphone was fitting snugly (no visible air-gap) within the funnel wall ( a plastic or rubber funnel is the best). He then plugged the jack back in to the computer and switched the computer on. Next, he checked (enabled) microphone option in the sound configuration and opened Windows Movie Maker. Clicked 'tools' then chose 'narration' mode and placed the rim of the funnel on his chest. As expected, the program faithfully digitized his aberrant sounds (through its analog to digital converter (avance AC 97), built-in within the motherboard of the computer) and recorded them. Upon completion of the recording, he played it back using Windows Media Player. Hell, the sounds suggested he definitely had some problem, and a real 'objective' one at that. In the visualization option, 'bars' even 'showed' his sounds! He decided to email 'the file' to his colleague as an attachment so that he could have some medical advice over the phone. 

Next, an ECG was done. The guy was having atrial fibrillation, the ECG revealed. Perhaps anxiety and stress coupled with electrolyte disturbance had their toll. No antiarrhythmic medications were given (in fact, they are often avoided in this situation). Just a sedative-anxiolytic for a couple of days cured the condition. Atrial fibrillation (AFib) arises due to some 'triggers' and 'reentry' in cardiac conduction pathway. I have covered them in detail elsewhere. AFib is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. 

As of now, the sound files are

and

. Some unwanted sound due to mechanical friction is present. But our purpose is served well. 

 I'll let you in with a little secret. That guy was me :-) 

Last modified: June 22, 2026 N.B. [This is JUST an experimental device. Undue emphasis must be avoided and this is also not a medical advice.] 

Reference: hyper-links, unless specifically mentioned