Stethoscope: The oldest medical instrument

A two-pronged stethoscope must be seen around the doctor's neck. A stethoscope is the hallmark of a doctor. Health is checked by listening to the heart beat, pulse or internal sounds of the body by placing both the probes in the ear and placing the tip of the probe on the patient's chest. The working and construction of stethoscope is simple. Sound waves cause the medium they travel through to vibrate. As the sound waves traveling through the narrow eardrum enter the ear directly, they are heard in a predictable manner.

The stethoscope was invented in AD. In 1816, Doctor Tanelneck of Paris did it. The stethoscope he invented was made of a simple wooden tube and was placed over one ear to listen for the heartbeat. A stethoscope made of two rubber tips was invented by a doctor named Golding Bird. Finally, in 1852, a scientist named George Cayman created a convenient stethoscope and put it on the market. Subsequently, stethoscopes of the same design are still used today.

In 1940, scientists named Rappaport and Seung put two different positions in the post of the stethoscope. Heart beat was heard from one and lung movements from the other.

Modern electronic stethoscopes have also been developed where the sound is amplified. Not only that but it can also be transmitted over long distances wirelessly. And can also be recorded. Doppler stethoscope can also listen to ultrasound sound in the body and lastly the stethoscope is used not only for health but also for listening to the internal sounds of the mechanical stethoscope machine, checking for leakage in the vacuum chamber and other acoustic research. A stethoscope that magnifies sound is called a conendoscope.