A team of researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK has developed a handheld heart disease screening device that may offer an alternative to the stethoscope and support earlier detection of heart valve disease (VHD).
The device can be used over clothing and by individuals without formal medical training. It is designed to improve the accuracy and accessibility of cardiac assessments, particularly in community screening environments.
Unlike traditional stethoscopes, which rely on precise placement and patient undressing for optimal readings, the new device uses a larger sensing surface and multiple sensors to capture heart sounds clearly even through clothing.
The six-sensor design enables vibration detection across a broader area of the chest, supported by gel materials that isolate signals and reduce sensor interference. This makes the device easier to use and more suitable for patients in non-hospital settings, said the university.
The device allows heart sound recordings to be saved and later analysed. In parallel with its physical development, the researchers have built a machine learning algorithm capable of automatically identifying signs of heart valve disease.
According to the research team, preliminary trials indicate the algorithm may outperform general practitioners in detecting such conditions. The findings were published in the IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics.
Dr Anurag Agarwal, a Fellow of Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, stated that the intention was to create a user-friendly screening alternative to reduce NHS waiting lists and detect valve disease at an earlier stage.
Agarwal said: “To help get waiting lists down, and to make sure we’re diagnosing heart valve disease early enough that simple interventions can improve quality of life, we wanted to develop an alternative to a stethoscope that is easy to use as a screening tool.”
Heart valve disease continues to be an area of growing concern in cardiac health. Often referred to as the ‘next cardiac epidemic’, the condition remains underdiagnosed, with as many as 50% of patients with significant VHD going undetected until symptoms worsen.
Data suggests that only 38% of patients presenting to general practitioners with symptoms associated with valve disease receive a stethoscope examination.
While echocardiography remains the gold standard for diagnosis, access to this test is limited by the need for specialist hospital equipment and significant NHS waiting times, which commonly ranging from six to nine months.
The new handheld device aims to bridge this diagnostic gap, offering a potential triage tool for prioritising patients who may require hospital-based imaging, said the university.
The device is said to have been tested on healthy volunteers with various body types, with the next phase involving clinical trials comparing its performance against echocardiogram results.
Its developers believe it could play a pivotal role in community-based heart health programmes, reducing the logistical and privacy challenges often associated with traditional auscultation methods.
Cambridge Enterprise, the university’s commercialisation division, has filed a patent for the device. The research team is continuing development of the machine learning software in parallel with clinical testing to further validate its application in healthcare settings.
