摘要 |
The present invention relates to an acoustic sensor device (10) for capturing internal body sounds. The acoustic sensor device is designed to sense the flexing of a patient's skin that is a result of the localized nature of internal body sounds, especially the patient's heart sounds, and generate an electrical signal analogous to the flexure of the skin. The acoustic sensing device of the present invention has as its principal components two thin film piezoelectric sensing portions (12, 14), preferably formed from polyvinylidene fluoride or a similar piezoelectric material, two layers (16, 18) of a compliant, substantially incompressible material, a flexible and elastic adhesive layer (20) between respective ones of the sensing portions and the incompressible material layers, an electrical connector (22) at one end of the sensing device, an optional neutral plane inducer (24), an electrostatic shield (26) for the electrical connector, a moisture barrier/protective coating (28), and an optional adhesive or cream layer (30) for adhering the sensor device to the skin of the patient.
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