Things Every Medical Practitioner Should know About Stethoscopes
From outpatient clinics to hospital wards, there is no doctor who fails to carry a stethoscope, an instrument that has now become the quintessential symbol of the profession.
Most laymen and even medical practitioners think that stethoscopes are all the same or one stethoscope is as good as another. Entering into the merits of this cliché is, therefore, a duty on our part, especially after the many considerations about it that some of your colleagues have delivered to us on our web communication channels.
Lexical Differences
The first difference between stethoscopes is highlighted by disambiguating the word widely used to designate this medical instrument. In fact, in the common language, the term stethoscope is used to indicate the stethophonendoscope, an exact word to denote the medical device that combines the functions of the phonendoscope and the stethoscope.
To definitively clarify the use of the word stethoscope, we remind you that it derives from the union of the word phonendoscope, a device useful for auscultation of the viscera in general, and the word stethoscope, necessary to identify the frequencies emitted by your patient’s chest.
Is a Stethoscope Worth the Other?
The choice of your inseparable workmate is very important and must be done with care and taking into account your professional needs and the well-being of your patients.
It is advisable, as you well know, to choose the stethoscope also based on the medical specialization of competence. For example, if you are a general practitioner, you will tend to choose a versatile stainless steel stethoscope, useful both for measuring blood pressure and for auscultating the chest, heart, and bowel frequencies of your patients.
Another key feature to consider when choosing a stethoscope is the adaptability of the earphones to your ears. In this case, the reflection is strictly subjective and falls on the stethoscope that best suits the physical characteristics of your auricle. The best stethoscopes, in fact, have soft toggles that tend to adapt to the user’s ear.
The Acoustic Stethoscope
A stethoscope for doctors since time immemorial, the acoustic stethoscope is the best colleague of any self-respecting doctor.
Being equipped with a disc and a bell, the acoustic stethoscope responds to the need to auscultate both the low frequencies emitted, for example, by the heart of a child and the high frequencies coming from the lungs. The acoustic stethoscope is the ideal choice for most doctors, accustomed to welcoming their patients in environments such as clinics, hospitals, and other places where most medical visits usually take place: these environments are ideal for using the stethoscope acoustic because they have an average noise floor.
The Electronic Stethoscope
The electronic stethoscope is a more complex medical device because it is equipped with a technology that transforms electrical impulses into sound waves. This step takes place thanks to small microphones that capture the sound by bringing it to the ear of its user after having amplified it.
The electronic stethoscope is certainly a more delicate and less manageable instrument than the acoustic one, but it is ideal for those who have to work in typical and very noisy environments. To have good performance, it is necessary to choose an electronic stethoscope that has the microphones directly in the bell and is equipped with specific filters, necessary for the reduction of ambient sound (Ambient noise reduction).
