If you are a doctor, you certainly will understand the importance and need for a high quality stethoscope. It could have a big perceptional difference on the doctors as far as patients are concerned.
If the patient sees the doctor in a white dress with a stethoscope hanging around his or neck, it certainly will give an impression to the patients that they are being treated by the best brains in the city or perhaps even in the world.
Hence, there is hardly any doubt that a quality stethoscope is one of the most important and influential devices which could change perceptions of patients about their doctors and healthcare professionals.
This is not a mere statement but is based on studies and researches. Therefore there is no denying the fact that a good stethoscope and even young children of four years would be able to have a better opinion about their health care providers.
The History Of Stethoscopes
The history of stethoscopes is quite old and it could be around 200 years old. A French doctor is credited with the usage of the first stethoscope and it was made from paper and wood.
This was the stepping stone and as technology evolved the stethoscope also evolved in terms of looks, appearances and other such attributes. However, the credit for the modern day stethoscope should certainly go to Dr. Littman who was a big name in the field of cardiology.
He came out with an advanced stethoscope which was helpful as being a diagnostic tool also. Today technology has enabled stethoscope to reach newer boundaries. You could easily come across these devices which can be attached to Bluetooth. Additionally you also see doctors using stethoscopes using dual frequency membranes, amplification systems, use of digital noise reduction technology just to name a few.
How Does It Work
It is a simple device which has a chest piece attached to a tube. The tube splits into two and has to be connected to the ears. The chest piece has membranes which pick up the heart beats and also the sounds emanating from the lungs and the other breathing apparatuses of the body.
Hence, it basically is used to capture cardio sounds and pulmonary sounds. It has special technologies which ensure that the noise transmission happens without any significant loss or distortion. You will be able to get the right kind of information about its work and various usages if you look up information sources like Stethoscopes.ninja you certainly will be able to get a fairer idea about the functionalities of different types of stethoscopes.
The Different Types Of Stethoscopes
Littmann Stethoscope is considered to be the most popular and simple stethoscope and therefore it is widely used also. However, it also is possible to alternate between high and low frequencies using a Littmann stethoscope. It is quite easy to do it and all that is required is applying less or more pressure on the skin of the patient. These frequencies are referred to as Bell mode (low frequency) and membrane mode (high frequency).
Electronic Stethoscopes
Conventional stethoscopes including Littmann stethoscopes have a problem. The volume of sound that is captured is low. Further the record of these acoustic findings can at best be descriptive because it does not have the facility of recording the auscultations.
Hence, this problem needed to be overcome and this is where electronic stethoscopes have been considered as game changers. These stethoscopes allow digital processing of the sounds emanating from the patient and the same can be stored.
The volume can also be increased and in fact modern day Littmann stethoscopes could have wireless Bluetooth connectivity and also file saving options. This helps to not only digitally record the auscultations but also save them for future reference, diagnosis and usage.
Conclusion
Hence there is no doubt that apart from giving the first impression to the patient, stethoscopes have come a long way since the first one made of wood and paper was used. They are certainly life savers and when technology is used, it certainly could be a great tool to diagnose an emergency problem perfectly and take the required remedial action without too much wastage of time. As an ordinary person, it would be interesting on your part to spend some time and get to know more about these evolving technologies as far as stethoscopes are concerned.