How prototyping work on innovative, veterinary digital stethoscope was supported

A digital stethoscope with artificial intelligence (AI) screening capabilities, adapted and tuned for canine veterinary use, has been developed by a Warwick–based engineering company. The prototyping work of the ‘Vetascope’ has been supported by the Proof of Concept programme, part financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and delivered by Coventry University Enterprises Limited.

Ademen Limited was established by four senior engineers in 2020 to develop healthcare and veterinary tool to aid health condition monitoring. The business aims to fulfil a market need for new tools to help undertake increased levels of screening and monitoring of common health conditions in both humans and animals. From speaking with veterinarians, the company identified a need for an affordable wireless stethoscope device to allow more movement when examining animals. There are also opportunities to use AI-assistive tools to automatically assess for common health conditions from the stethoscope sound data.

Proof of Concept project

The ‘Vetascope’ Proof of Concept project delivered working prototypes of the hardware and software interface for a wireless stethoscope suited to veterinary use that is also capable of streaming data for future AI tools, such as automatically identifying a dog heart murmur. The device has been developed to be comparable in price to existing stethoscopes and has been designed to be very easy and intuitive to use, based on interviews with vets about their needs. Future data analysis will provide an alternative to echocardiogram assessment for monitoring some common conditions such as heart disease in dogs.

The PoC grant has enabled the design and production of a small number of Vetascope devices, a basic safety assessment of the device plus the development of a bespoke smartphone app to link the Vetascope to a cloud-based data processing platform for running Ademen’s AI code. The grant has delivered usable hardware prototypes and an associated control app that are suitable to gain user feedback and to demonstrate Ademen’s vision. A stretch goal for the device has been achieved with the implementation of intuitive usability. The bespoke smartphone app has been successfully loaded onto an Android smartphone, linking the device to a cloud-based data processing platform.

Assessment

The small production run of Vetascope devices will now be used for assessments by potential early adopter users. The PoC project has enabled the product to be assessed for basic safety by a third-party testing house. This has provided valuable insights and guidance in the interpretation of regulatory requirements and how to meet them. Since the PoC project, and further demonstrating the versatility of its technology, Ademen produced units to undertake a prestigious human health project to accelerate development of its AI software. Industry recognition came in October 2022 when the company won an international data streaming award. Ademen’s present focus is to secure substantial funding during 2023 to enable it to launch products into the UK human and veterinary health markets.

Proof of Concept team

Daniel Cox, director of Ademen Ltd, said: “Working with the Proof of Concept team at Coventry University has been a pleasure. They have been both supportive and understanding during the ‘ups and downs’ of the project plus their guidance with the necessary documentation has been invaluable; they also take a genuine interest in what you are trying to develop, making the effort to visit for in-person project demonstrations. Thank you very much!”

The Proof of Concept ERDF programme has supported more than 200 companies within Coventry & Warwickshire and Greater Birmingham & Solihull to develop their prototypes, while allowing them to move a step closer to the market with a lower financial risk.

For more information, please visit the Proof of Concept programme webpage here.