Keywords: Heart sounds, heart failure, mobile health, remote monitoring

"Heart sounds: From animal to patient and mHealth"

This thesis investigated the relationship between heart sounds and diseased conditions through animal and human studies. The researchers proposed a novel algorithm to estimate the second heart sound splitting which was proven to be related to uncoordinated heart contraction. To help adjust pacemaker settings, the researchers derived timing indicators from heart sounds using animal and human studies. For the first time, heart sounds were systematically studied in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, and a noninvasive score was proposed to show good performance in differentiating the patients. To enable large-scale monitoring, an app was developed to measure heart sounds using the built-in microphone of smartphone. The analysis from over 1100 users showed every 4 out of 5 users were able to record heart sounds by themselves. The researchers also reviewed the over 200-year history of heart sound study and discussed the potentials of their findings in remote patient monitoring.

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