Stethoscope
Stethoscopes are used by medical practitioners to listen to the sounds emitted by internal organs of patients. Stethoscopes have long been used by physicians to monitor auscultatory sounds. The stethoscope is so frequently used that it is imperative that the medical practitioner has the stethoscope constantly at hand. A normal heart and lungs produce normal sounds which are detected by the stethoscope, and if any abnormalities are detected proper corrective steps may be taken Therefore, it is extremely important for a medical diagnostician to recognize and understand normal and abnormal heart and lung sounds. The use of a stethoscope for listening to the sound of a patient's heart, lungs, or other internal organs is a routine medical practice. Stethoscopes may allow a healthcare provider to listen to and identify sounds, and these sounds may be associated with various abnormalities or ailments. One such sound is a heart murmur, which, when detected, may indicate that a patient possesses a specific abnormality of the heart. Therefore, doctors and nurses typically carry a stethoscope with them most of the time. A stethoscope typically has two cylindrical bells located on opposite sides of its head. One of the bells is smaller than the other and it is used to listen to low frequency sounds. The larger bell is to listen to high frequency sounds. The smaller bell is open-ended while the larger bell is covered by a diaphragm. Typically stethoscopes have been comprised of a head or chestpiece, a sound transmission mechanism and an earpiece assembly. The chestpiece is adapted to be placed near or against the skin, body, of a patient for gathering the auscultatory sounds. The sound transmission mechanism transmits the gathered sound to an earpiece, or a pair of earpieces called a binaural earpiece, where the physician or other health professional may monitor the sound. The chestpiece of a stethoscope may be constituted by a single input device, or sound pickup, or by a plurality of such devices. When a plurality of devices are provided, the chest-piece will be composed of a coupler, or support, member connected to the flexible tubes and a turret which carries the sound pickups. The turret is rotatable to bring a selected pickup into a position for use, in which that pickup is in acoustic communication with the flexible tubes. There are two basic types of pickup: those which are provided with a diaphragm; and those which are commonly referred to as bells.
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