homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Musical hips: Doctors literally hear music while checking a patient's pulse

Quite possibly the weirdest ham radio flex in medical history.

Tibi Puiu
December 22, 2020 @ 8:29 pm

share Share

It was another day at work when doctors admitted a 65-year-old man after a fall resulted in a dislocated right hip. Doctors used a handheld Doppler ultrasound device to assess the man’s pulse in his feet, a standard procedure. But much to everyone’s surprise, the device’s speakers played music accompanying the man’s regular pulse. What is this sorcery?

Turns out, the man with the most melodic pulse in the world had previously undergone surgery to replace both hips with prosthetics, which the authors of a new report published in The New England Journal of Medicine believe picked up radio waves, “although other equipment in the room (such as the hospital bed) could have received the signal.”

Credit: The New England Journal of Medicine.

Doctors repeated the procedure with other Doppler devices, and they could still hear the music. In a video accompanying the report, the song “Gracias Por Tu Amor” by Banda El Recodo De Cruz Lizárraga can be heard.

Although no harm came out of it, medical staff reported the incident to the facility’s engineering department for further investigation but not faulty equipment was reported.

Eight months after the bizarre radio interference, the patient is doing well. He hasn’t experienced any other falls and can now boast that his heart literally beats to the drum of life.

share Share

Using screens in bed increases insomnia risk by 59% — but social media isn’t the worst offender

Forget blue light, the real reason screens disrupt sleep may be simpler than experts thought.

Beetles Conquered Earth by Evolving a Tiny Chemical Factory

There are around 66,000 species of rove beetles and one researcher proposes it's because of one special gland.

An Experimental Drug Just Slashed Genetic Heart Risk by 94%

One in 10 people carry this genetic heart risk. There's never been a treatment — until now.

We’re Getting Very Close to a Birth Control Pill for Men

Scientists may have just cracked the code for male birth control.

A New Antibiotic Was Hiding in Backyard Dirt and It Might Save Millions

A new antibiotic works when others fail.

This Freshwater Fish Can Live Over 120 Years and Shows No Signs of Aging. But It Has a Problem

An ancient freshwater species may be quietly facing a silent collapse.

A Week of Cold Plunges Could Help Your Cells Fight Aging and Disease

Cold exposure "trains" cells to be more efficient at cleaning themselves up.

England will start giving morning-after pill for free

Free contraception in the UK clashes starkly with the US under Trump's shadow.

A Gene-Edited Pig Liver Was Hooked to a Human for 10 Days and It Actually Worked

Breakthrough transplant raises hopes for patients needing liver support or awaiting transplants.

These researchers counted the trees in China using lasers

The answer is 142 billion. Plus or minus a few, of course.