How a stethoscope works

Surely every time you go to the doctor for a complete review, he will use his stethoscope, that is, the device that is placed in the ears and used to listen to your heart palpitations as well as to assess the state of your lungs. It is a basic medical device to diagnose some of the most common conditions that we can suffer such as colds, congestion, flu, and so on.

The name of this device comes from the Greek in which the word "estetos" means "chest" and "escopé" refers to the act of "observing", therefore, it is an instrument designed to analyze the state of the breast in a internal, area where the lungs and the respiratory system are located. In this article we are going to discover how a stethoscope works so that you understand the use that is given to this medical device.

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René Laënenec was the inventor of the stethoscope in 1816 . He was a doctor originally from France who wanted to find a precise tool to listen to the patient's state of health and, thus, avoid the method that was followed until then: support the ear in the patient's chest. He started by designing a new device in the shape of a funnel because, in this way, he could hear better heartbeats but, over time, this initial idea was evolving until the creation of a small trumpet that would be called "Pinard". Finally, it was Josef Skoda, a Swedish doctor who developed the technique of auscultation that nowadays everyone has practiced at some time in their lives.

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But what is a stethoscope? It is the device that all health professionals use to listen to patients and, thus, be able to determine their condition and detect whether or not there is a condition that is affecting them. It is a very useful tool to verify externally if there is any disease and, if this is the case, to be able to prescribe the best treatment to combat it.

The device itself is a flexible tube that is hollow inside and that ends in two branches that are placed in the professional's ear. The other end is joined in a bell-shaped piece (as Laënenec designed) and allows to rest on the patient's chest to listen to its interior. This piece allows to amplify the sound that is produced inside the body and, therefore, that the doctor's ear can determine if there is any anomaly in the noises that are emitted when we breathe.

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To know how a stethoscope works it is important that we remember how it is used by professionals in the sector. The doctor will arrange the headphones inside the ear and then place the funnel on the patient's chest. The most common is that the expert will listen to different areas of the chest, such as the heart, lungs, etc., by orders of "Inspire, expires" to be able to fully appreciate the sound that occurs at the entrance and exit of air .

In this way, the stethoscope is able to capture the vibrations of the body and, therefore, the doctor can assess what is happening inside us and, therefore, if we are healthy or have a condition. It is also common for the doctor to give some gentle blows to the area in order to assess the vibrational sound that is produced in our body, a technique to make their diagnosis even more precise.

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In addition to the bell-shaped stethoscope, there is also another one that ends in a diaphragm and each of them is used to exercise one type of auscultation or another.

Bell stethoscope

It is used supporting it on the skin without getting too much pressure. It allows to listen vibrations in long wavelength, in low frequency and in the area of ​​the lungs.

Stethoscope in diaphragm

It rests on the flat part and the body is pressed firmly to be able to hear the high frequency sounds, the shorter waves. It is the one that is usually used to examine the heartbeat.

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What is a stethoscope used for? Its usefulness is very wide and varied because it allows the specialist to determine the type of affection that a person is suffering thanks to the sound that is produced inside. In this way, it is a very useful tool in fields such as cardiology, pneumology, internal medicine, etcetera; In addition, this tool is also used in veterinary consultations because it allows to control the vital signs of the animals and to detect in time any medical condition or complication.

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It is important that you know that, although the use of the stethoscope is simple, it is essential to have the medical knowledge to be able to determine the health status of a person. Only a professional will be able to interpret the sound that comes out of our body and evaluate our health. It is a tool designed to detect diseases and treat them in a localized way, therefore, it is not a toy for children but it is a tool for professional use.

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As we have said, to be able to listen to the heartbeat of a person it is important that the stethoscope used is the diaphragm. To do this, it should be placed on the upper left chest and press gently on the skin to detect the sound of the heartbeat. Attention should be paid to them for 1 full minute and, during this time, the patient should be relaxed and breathing normally.

In order to determine the state of the heart it is important that you count the number of beats that are heard during that minute because it will allow you to assess whether the patient is, or not, within the usual limits of heart rate:

• Children over 10 years old and adults: between 60 and 100 beats per minute
• Athletes: between 40 and 60 beats per minute
• Children under 10 years old: 80 to 120 beats per minute

In we give you some tips so you know how to control the heart rate.