Stethoscope with Commercials Could Open a New Medical Device Marketing & Advertising Channel

Advertising Messages on Your Digital Stethoscope

It seems there’s an iPhone app for everything. (As of today, at least 250,000 apps, and 6.5 billion downloads. But that’s a moving target).

Now there’s an app that falls into the category of medical device marketing & advertising. The iStethoscope turns an iPhone or iPod Touch into (surprise) a stethoscope, to hear a heartbeat and see a heart waveform.

The free version is advertising supported. Assuming it is popular with doctors—as the developer suggests—it could be an avenue for pharma and medical device marketing and advertising to target practitioners.The BBC is reporting that: “More than three million doctors have downloaded the iStethoscope application, which enables physicians to monitor their patients' heartbeats using their smartphones. The patient can email their heart pattern to their doctor to enable them to receive professional assessment of their condition. The application was invented by Professor Peter J. Bentley, a researcher from University College London.”

There’s also a version without advertising—iStethoscope Pro—that sells for 99-cents and adds a spectrogram option. The audio and spectrogram image can be emailed.

It’s an intriguing concept, and another illustration of medical technology intersecting with the boom in smartphones. There’s more on the iTunes page, and the Journal of Medical Devices.