In order to know the meaning of the term stethoscope, we are going to proceed, first of all, to discover its etymological origin. In this case, we can determine that it is a word that derives from Greek, since it is the result of the sum of two well-differentiated lexical components of said language:
-The noun "stêthos", which can be translated as "chest".
-The verb «skopein», which is synonymous with «observe».
This is the name given to an instrument used by doctors to amplify sounds produced in the chest and other sectors of the body, thus being able to hear them without deformations and thus examine them.
This acoustic device allows you to listen to the internal sounds of the body and develop auscultation that allows abnormalities to be detected. That is why stethoscopes are important in different specialties of medicine , such as cardiology, speech therapy and kinesiology, among others.
In the same way, it is interesting to discover that this instrument was invented by a French doctor named René Laënnec (1781 – 1826). According to rumor, he always "listened" to his patients' chests by placing his ear to it, but one day he had a young patient with very prominent breasts and following that same procedure was not only uncomfortable and impractical but also a little "violent."
For this reason, what he decided to do was use a small round cardboard that he had on hand and from that action he decided to invent what is known today as a stethoscope.
The most common use of the stethoscope is linked to the need to hear respiratory or heart sounds clearly. The professional inserts the headphones (the eartips) of the device into his ears and rests the bell or diaphragm on the patient's body: the sound is transmitted through the rubber tubes that link the different parts of the instrument.
The bell is a membrane that vibrates and allows low-frequency sounds to be transmitted, with long wavelengths. By applying firmer pressure, the membrane is mobilized, a ring comes into contact and its vibration is minimized or blocked, activating the diaphragm mode that makes it possible to hear high-frequency sounds (short wavelengths).
With the stethoscope it is possible to detect heart murmurs , lung wheezing and peristaltic sounds , for example. The device also helps obtain information about blood pressure .
It should be noted that there are also electronic stethoscopes , which have batteries , are more sensitive and respond better to different frequencies, even having volume control.
Likewise, we cannot ignore the existence of other types of stethoscopes, among which the Pinard one stands out, which is used to hear the heart tones of the fetus and which stands out because it is very good in terms of acoustics, and the Doppler. The latter we can establish that is appropriate for, among other things, listening to everything from blood flows in the heart of any person to the movements called valves.