The respiratory sound features of COVID-19 patients fill gaps between clinical data and screening methods

Ying hui Huang; Si jun Meng; Yi Zhang; Shui sheng Wu; Yu Zhang; Ya wei Zhang; Yi xiang Ye; Qi feng Wei; Nian gui Zhao; Jian ping Jiang; Xiao ying Ji; Chun xia Zhou; Chao Zheng; Wen Zhang; Li zhong Xie; Yong chao Hu; Jian quan He; Jian Chen; Wang yue Wang; Chang hua Zhang; Liming Cao; Wen Xu; Yunhong Lei; Zheng hua Jian; Wei ping Hu; Wen juan Qin; Wan yu Wang; Yu long He; Hang Xiao; Xiao fang Zheng; Yi Qun Hu; Wen Sheng Pan; Jian feng Cai

The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) broke out in Wuhan in January 2020, which has now spread all over the world 1, 2 . Respiratory droplets and close contacts are the main transmission routes of COVID-19 3 . Cough was the first symptom in 67.8% of COVID-19 infected patients 4 . Currently, the identification of suspected patients is mainly based upon epidemiological data and clinical symptoms. With the occurrence of pandemic, more and more patients without a clear epidemiological history or typical clinical symptoms have been found. A more convenient and more reliable method of identifying suspicious patients is urgently needed. The main laboratory examination methods are nucleic acid testing and chest imaging 5 . But the former is a diagnostic test, which may be priority to the suspected patients after primary screening. The latter is expensive and difficult to obtain in most countries. At the same time, both of them need the interval time waiting for results, which extends the time to take measures such as isolation. Pulmonary auscultation 6, 7 is an important means to diagnose and treat pulmonary diseases in the routine medical work, which can provide important physiological and/or pathological information. However, various causes limited its application when faced with infectious diseases. Electronic stethoscope can transmit auscultation data through Bluetooth in real-time 8, 9 . It can break the status quo of unable-auscultation caused by medical protective clothing without increasing the risk of medical infection. This study intends to leverage a remote electronic stethoscope to collect the lung auscultation characteristics of COVID-19 patients, which makes up the lack of existing COVID-19 clinical data. It also proposes to use remote equipment in screening and monitoring patients with COVID-19, which is a safe and effective way to break the regional restrictions.