Sound as a Diagnostic Tool for Almost Everything

[Arthur Hanson]

Otosense, a start up has developed a sound sensor system for cars that can detect problems throughout the car and even tell road conditions from the sound. A while back I met with a group that had developed one of many high end electronic stethoscopes that gave doctors a better view of the body. One reason I didn't invest is that they didn't give the stethoscope Bluetooth connectivity which would have allowed an app or program to interpret not only heat beat, but breathing and blood flow. The human body is a noisy place from breathing, blood flow, pulses throughout the body, digestion, joints and many other functions. Sound is grossly underestimated as a precision diagnostic tool that doesn't require sensors to be every where. It can be used any where there is friction, an object cutting through the air, water and solid materials. When big data is applied to interpreting and making sense of the sounds of just about any biological or mechanical object a whole new area of diagnostics is opened up. The sound sensor diagnostic devices of the future will become one of an array of diagnostic tools combined with big data that give us one more option in interpreting the world around us. The world of auditory sound from frequencies above and below what we can hear with what we can hear offer a whole new world of diagnostics and another significant market for the semis and mems from sensing to interpreting. The range of senses semis and mems have the ability to pick up and interpret at low cost adds a whole new area of research to be studied and exploited. One advantage of these sensors is they can be added economically after the fact. The uses for semis and semi technology and manufacturing processes is still in its infancy and this is but one example.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/...make-cars-safer-and-more-reliable/?set=604301