Time/frequency analysis of heart murmurs, Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Time/frequency analysis of heart murmurs in children and young adults
IRAS ID
195612
Contact name
Aswathy James
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
R&D Department
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 8 days
Research summary
Murmurs that originate with no anatomical abnormalities and with normal flow patterns are referred to as ‘innocent murmurs’ or ‘physiological murmurs’. Many children will have a murmur at some point during their development. Around 0.8% of children have congenital cardiac defects. Many children have murmurs and are referred to paediatric cardiology. These children are then discussed in clinic and investigated for malformations. For groups of clinicians who are not paediatric cardiologists, distinguishing between an innocent and pathological murmur has often proven to be difficult. It is known that clinical assessment by an experienced clinician can identify classical features and these murmurs may have a diagnostic signature when assessed by sound frequency analysis. Using a stethoscope that records the sounds electronically (an electronic stethoscope), it may be possible to identify innocent murmurs using this approach.This has the potential of avoiding referral of a large number of cases to a specialist cardiac center.
The study seeks to record murmurs in children using an electronic stethoscope with offline analysis at Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton. We believe that there may be a characteristic pattern of sound frequencies for innocent murmurs allowing development of a diagnostic tool.
The study will be over a 2 year period; children above the age of 4 and adults(under 30 years) referred to a hospital clinic for the assessment of a murmur will be invited to take part in the study.REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EE/0024
Date of REC Opinion
1 Feb 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion