Stethoscope

Stethoscope, pronounced STEHTH uh skohp, is a device physicians use to hear the sounds produced by certain organs of the body, such as the heart, lungs, intestines, veins, and arteries. The stethoscope picks up the sounds made by these organs and excludes other sounds.

The stethoscope consists of a body contact piece, which is placed against the body of the patient, and earpieces, which are placed in the ears of the physician. Hollow rubber tubing connects the body contact piece to the earpieces. Physicians use either a bell, diaphragm, or combination bell-diaphragm body contact piece. The bell type of contact piece picks up low-pitched sounds. The diaphragm type of contact piece picks up high-pitched sounds.

Before the invention of the stethoscope, the physician placed an ear next to the patient's body to hear the sounds made by the organs. Rene Laennec, a French physician, made the first stethoscope from a hollow wooden tube in 1816.

Contributor: Edward J. Shahady, M.D., Prof. of Family Medicine, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Stethoscope

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