Heart rate sonification: A new approach to medical diagnosis

Mark Ballora, Bruce Pennycook, Plamen C. Ivanov, Leon Glass, Ary L. Goldberger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

46 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ever since 1819, when Thophile Laënnec first put a block of wood to a patient's chest in order to listen to her heartbeat, physicians have used auscultation to help diagnose cardiopulmonary disorders. Here the authors describe a novel diagnostic method based in music technology. Digital music-synthesis software is used to transform the sequence of time intervals between consecutive heartbeats into an electroacoustic soundtrack. The results show promise as a diagnostic tool and also provide the basis of an interesting musical soundscape.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)41-46
Number of pages6
JournalLeonardo
Volume37
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2004

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Visual Arts and Performing Arts
  • Engineering (miscellaneous)
  • Music
  • Computer Science Applications

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