Quick Start Instructions for the Ventriloscope

Charging the units:

1. Turn the transmitter and receiver “off.” Make sure your computer is ON, or charging will not occur.
2. Insert the small end of the cable into the appropriate hole on the unit and the large end into the USB port of your computer.
3. You will see a steady orange light which will blink when charging is complete. This should take about 20 minutes.

Activating the Units:

1. Turn the switch on the transmitter box to the “on” position. A small green light should appear.
2. Using the pin of a PDA stylus (a paper clip wire, or other similar object will work in an emergency), increase the volume by inserting it into the “U” hole of the volume control and pressing in 6-10 times. This is not necessary to do each time, as the Ventriloscope will remember the last setting used, even when turned off. Increased volumes can be used for those used to using amplifying stethoscopes to compensate for hearing deficits
3. Insert the blue square SD card into the slot with the shiny metal strips of the card facing up.
4. Turn on the stethoscope by flipping the gray switch on the side of the unit. Again, a green light should appear.
5. You may opt to plug an earphone or recording device into the “out” jack for so that the operator can hear which sound is being played or for recording purposes for verification in testing situations.
6. You may use multiple ventriloscopes in the same area, even on the same patient. The Ventriloscope’s chip is designed not to interfere with another unit’s signal. The key is to turn on the transmitter box and then the stethoscope that you would like to use with it. You can run into trouble if you turn on multiple boxes and then multiple scopes as it is harder to tell which two units are “paired” with each other. The units do not have to paired the same way each time. If one scope needs to be recharged, any other scope can take its place as long as the new scope is allowed to “pair” with the transmitter by turning both units off and on again. The transmitter chip will search out a receiver chip to communicate with on an unoccupied frequency. The next one turned on will take the next frequency, etc. The range in an open area is upwards of 20 feet (8 meters). Depending on the obstacle and electrical interference, it may transmit through a wall.

Playing Sounds:

1. Each of the three positions on the top switch will enable you to access four sounds (one for each of the four finger switches) for a total of twelve different sounds per SD card.
2. The recorded sound will continue to play and loop until the finger switch is released.
3. The finger switch must be fully released before pressing the next button.
4. You may choose to synchronize the sounds with the patient’s breathing or pulse. As an example, a patient could press a button, activating a recording of an aortic stenosis murmur each time he feels his own radial pulse so that the student will be able to determine that this is a systolic murmur.
5. You may choose to play different sounds for the bell and diaphragm portion of the scope. For example, the patient may not choose to play a mitral stenosis murmur unless the learner positions the patient in the left lateral decubitus position and uses the bell side of the stethoscope.
6. When a student examines an unaffected portion of the patient, a “normal” sound can be played.
7. Any sound can be played anywhere on the body or mannequin, so you do not need to place the stethoscope over a speaker.
8. Multiple sounds can be played over the same spot. For a patient with pneumonia, “e” to “a” changes, whispered pectoriloquy, bronchophony, and bronchial breath sounds, wheezes, and crackles can be played over the exact same portion of the chest at different times. Blood pressure can be changed instantaneously by starting and stopping the Karotkoff sounds at the appropriate level on the sphygmomanometer.
9. Atypical areas can be examined like the orbits for ocular bruit, thyroid for the bruit of Grave’s disease, or sound transmission along the long bones to seek diminished sounds on the side of a fracture.
   

Recording Your Own Sounds (ANY sound recording put into an MP3 format can be used)

1. Format a blank SD card. ***You may not be able to record sound files properly if you skip this step***.
2. Insert the SD card into the slot and select “my computer”. RIGHT click on “SD card”. Choose “format” and then “FAT 32 file”
3. Each file name MUST have five digits. The only files recognized by the chip must begin with zeros and end with the numbers 1 through 12. An example would be: 00006 aortic stenosis.MP3
4. Here are some examples of working file names:
   
   "00001.mp3" = track 1
   "00002.MP3" = track 2
   "00003gobelldygook and spaces too.mP3" = track 3
   "00007canyoubelieveit_icant.Mp3" = track 7
   "00012*&^@%$#!if your OS can do this, then so can I.mp3" = track 12
   "00001000_this_reads_as_track_one__NOT_1000.mp3" = track 1
   "00001so does this02.mp3" = track 1
   
   These will NOT work:
   
   "1.mp3" - not enough zeroes
   "0001.mp3" - not enough zeroes
   "gooofer00001.mp3" - non numerical characters before numbers

Patient Instructions:

Good Morning!

You will be operating a handheld transmitter that can play a total of 12 sounds and send them wirelessly to a stethoscope for the purposes of simulation and testing.

It consists of 4 finger push buttons and one, three-position sliding switch.

Each position on the slide switch will play a different set of four sounds on the finger buttons.

Slide switch position

                 Button switches

	Slide Switch (A,B,C)
Button --Switchesà (1,2,3,4)

The sounds loop, and will play as long as the switch is held down. You can start and stop them accurately. Play ONLY when the stethoscope is touching you. Let go when it is not.

The sounds can be coordinated with your own breathing. There are sounds for inhalation and exhalation, some normal, some abnormal. Exaggerate your own breathing movements when you play the appropriate sounds and let go of the button when you have finished breathing in or breathing out.

Different sounds can be played over different areas of the body depending on the case.

The button must be released completely for about half a second before pressing another, or the same sound will play.

If the blue plastic SD card comes out, the unit must be started and stopped, so try to resist the temptation to pop it in and out (it’s difficult for me anyway).

Although it uses radio waves at the maximal allowable power, it may not broadcast through the chest if both the box and the stethoscope are held close to the chest. The way around this is to make sure that the two units can “see” each other without much obstruction from the body. This means that when playing lung sounds over the back, the transmitter should be held so the bottom of the box sticks out behind your back a bit.

Here are the sounds for a typical case and how to play them:

               Button switches                      Slide switch position

               Button switches

For example: If a student put the stethoscope under your left nipple, you would have the slide switch in position “A”, and press the second button as soon as the stethoscope touches the chest. Let go as soon as the stethoscope comes off the chest.

Another example: When the student is about to conduct the lung exam slide the switch to position “C”. As soon as the stethoscope touches your upper chest, press the first button and take a deep breath yourself. Let go of the button after breathing in. As you start to breathe out, press the second button.

LECAT'S VENTRILOSCOPE®
330-671-5574

copyright @ 2010 by Paul Lecat
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