Heart valve disease has a large and growing burden, with a prognosis worse than many cancers. Screening with a traditional stethoscope is underutilised, often inaccurate even in skilled hands, and requires time-consuming, intimate examinations. Here, we present a handheld device to enable untrained users to record high-quality heart sounds without the need to undress. The device incorporates multiple high-sensitivity sensors embedded in a flexible substrate, placed at key chest locations by the user. To address challenges from localised heart sound vibrations and noise interference, we developed time-frequency signal quality algorithms that automatically select the best sensor in the device and reject recordings with insufficient diagnostic quality. A validation study demonstrates the device’s effectiveness across a diverse range of body types, with multiple sensors significantly increasing the likelihood of a successful recording. The device has the potential to enable accurate, accessible, low-cost heart disease screening.

MN, AM, and AA are authors on a patent application related to the device design in this work (PCT/GB2024/051172).

The study was supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) through its Confidence in Concept grant, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through its Impact Accelerator Award, and Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

The Ethics Committee of the Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge gave ethical approval for this work (project code 489).

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Yes

All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors.