stethoscope

(stĕth`əskōp') [Gr.,=chest viewer], instrument that enables the physican to hear the sounds made by the heart, the lungs, and various other organs. The earliest stethoscope, devised by the French physician R. T. H. LaënnecLaënnec, René Théophile Hyacinthe
, 1781–1826, French physician. While connected with the Necker Hospital in Paris he invented the stethoscope, which he described, together with the symptoms he had noted through its use, in his classic book
..... Click the link for more information. in the early 19th cent., consisted of a slender wooden tube about 1 ft (30 cm) long, one end of which had a broad flange, or bell-shaped opening. When this opening was placed against the chest of the patient, the physician, by placing his ear against the opposite opening, could hear the sounds of breathing and of heart action.

The stethoscope changed little until the beginning of the 20th cent. when the binaural instrument was developed by G. P. Cammann, a New York physician. It consisted of two earpieces with flexible rubber tubing connecting them to the two-branched metal chest cone. Thus the sounds could be heard with both ears, and the instrument's flexibility permitted the physician to listen to various areas without changing his position. Electronic stethoscopes make it possible for several clinicians to listen at the same time to the sounds emitted by a particular organ.

Stethoscopy (also called auscultation), used together with percussion (light tapping of the chest), is a fundamental diagnostic measure in medical practice. The qualities of the sounds emitted by the lungs and heart denote the health or abnormality of these organs. Many diseases of the heart and lungs, and sometimes of the stomach, blood vessels, and intestines, can be recognized early by skillful use of the stethoscope.

Bibliography

See study by M. D. Blaufox (2001).

Stethoscope

an instrument for listening to cardiac, respiratory, and other sounds originating within the body of man and animals. The stethoscope was invented in 1816 by the French physician R. Laёnnec (1781–1826), who developed the diagnostic method of auscultation.

Rodlike stethoscopes are shaped like wooden or hard rubber tubes with funnels of different diameters at the ends. Their advantage is that they can transmit sound not only through a column of air but through the solid part of the stethoscope and the temporal bone of the examiner. Binaural stethoscopes, which are more common, consist of a funnel and elastic tubes, the ends of which are inserted into the external acoustic meatus. More convenient to use during examinations than simple stethoscopes, binaural stethoscopes are often combined with phonendoscopes, which intensify auscultatory sounds.

stethoscope

[′steth·ə‚skōp] (medicine) An instrument for indirect auscultation for the detection and study of sounds arising within the body; sounds are conveyed to the ears of the examiner through rubber tubing connected to a funnel or disk-shaped endpiece.

stethoscope

1. Med an instrument for listening to the sounds made within the body, typically consisting of a hollow disc that transmits the sound through hollow tubes to earpieces 2. a narrow cylinder expanded at both ends to recieve and transmit fetal sounds

stethoscope

[steth´o-skōp] an instrument used to hear and amplify the sounds produced by the heart, lungs, and other internal organs. As first introduced by the 19th century French physician, René Laënnec, it was a simple wooden tube with a bell-shaped opening at one end. The modern stethoscope is binaural, with two earpieces and flexible tubing leading to them from the two-branched opening of the bell or cone. In this way, sound travels simultaneously through both branches to the earpieces. adj., adj stethoscop´ic.

Parts of a stethoscope. From Elkin et al., 2000.

steth·o·scope

(steth'ō-skōp), An instrument originally devised by Laennec for aid in hearing the respiratory and cardiac sounds in the chest, but now modified in various ways and used in auscultation of any of vascular or other sounds anywhere in the body. [stetho- + G. skopeō, to view]

stethoscope

(stĕth′ə-skōp′)n. Any of various instruments used for listening to sounds produced within the body.

steth′o·scop′ic (-skŏp′ĭk), steth′o·scop′i·cal (-ĭ-kəl) adj.steth′o·scop′i·cal·ly adv.ste·thos′co·py (stĕ-thŏs′kə-pē) n.

stethoscope

Medical practice An instument with a Y-shaped flexible tube that connects at one end to a bell-shaped device fitted with a piece of hardened plastic that amplifies sound and, at the other, to 2 ear pieces for listening to various sounds from the heart, lungs, GI tract, etc Popular media That really cool thingie that TV docs carry around to impress people. See Sphygmomanometer, White coat.

steth·o·scope

(steth'ŏ-skōp) An instrument originally devised by Laënnec for aid in hearing the respiratory and cardiac sounds in the chest, but now modified in various ways and used in auscultation of any of vascular or other sounds anywhere in the body. [G. stethos, chest + G. skopeō, to view]

stethoscope

A binaural or monaural tube that conveys sounds conveniently from the body of a patient to the ears of the examining physician or other person. From the Greek stethos , chest and skopein , to look at; from which it will be seen that the name of the instrument was carelessly chosen. The careful auscultator will often close his or her eyes, the better to hear all the subtleties of body sounds, especially heart murmurs.

Stethoscope

A Y-shaped instrument that amplifies body sounds such as heartbeat, breathing, and air in the intestine. Used in auscultation.Mentioned in: Isolation, Physical Examination

steth·o·scope

(steth'ŏ-skōp) An instrument used in auscultation of vascular or other sounds anywhere in body. [G. stethos, chest + G. skopeō, to view]

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Words related to stethoscope

noun a medical instrument for listening to the sounds generated inside the body

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