When we think of the term "medicine," one of the symbols that comes to mind is the stethoscope. Its use in almost every physical examination by healthcare providers makes it one of the most iconic and widely recognized medical devices. Despite the emergence of digital technologies and the first electronic stethoscopes, their operating principle and design still rely heavily on the patent filed by Dr. David Littmann in the 1960s. But in the era of miniaturization and artificial intelligence, there is a reason to believe that the stethoscope is ripe for a true transformation. Among those who share this opinion are Lapsi Health and the team of Diana van Stijn. Inspired by her experience as a pediatrician and the central role of body sounds in her profession, Diana envisions a new kind of stethoscope—without tubing, fitting in the palm of a hand, and leveraging the latest technological advancements to better equip physicians. This vision gave birth to Keikku, a next-generation digital stethoscope. Beyond rethinking the format and use of the stethoscope for doctors, Diana and her colleagues imagine a future where patients can use it themselves, paving the way for continuous auscultation. In this episode, we explore how Diana and her team are turning this vision into reality, and what it could mean for the prevention, detection, and monitoring of diseases, extending far beyond pediatrics. With humor and enthusiasm, Diana also shares a few secrets about her approach to balancing clinical practice, motherhood, and entrepreneurship in healthcare! Timeline: 00:00:00 - Diana’s background as a Pediatrician, startup Co-Founder, and former National Team Swimmer 00:11:10 - The role of body sounds in medicine 00:15:08 - Early ideas on disrupting traditional stethoscopes 00:22:21 - Building Keikku, a portable, intuitive, and radically modern stethoscope 00:26:43 - Incorporating AI in the interpretation of body sounds 00:30:50 - Moving toward continuous auscultation and getting Keikku into the hands of patients What we also talked about with Diana: Shavini Fernando MedTech World Cirque du Soleil Jhonatan Bringas Dimitriades Magnetic Resonance Imaging Computed Tomography As Diana mentioned during the episode, you can learn more about Keikku here and the other devices in Lapsi Health’s pipeline via their official website. To dive further into some of the topics mentioned in the episode, Diana recommends reading Intelligence-Based Medicine: Artificial Intelligence and Human Cognition in Clinical Medicine and Healthcare by Anthony C. Chang and the article published on JMIR Publications that she co-authored, Promises, Pitfalls, and Clinical Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Pediatrics by Bhargava H. et al. You can follow Lapsi Health’s activities on LinkedIn, and get in touch with Diana via LinkedIn too! ✉️ If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, contact me over LinkedIn or via email! ⭐️ And if you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 You can also support my work by doing a PayPal donation @ImpulsePodcast! 👍 Lastly, don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!
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52 mins