The stethoscope is a universal symbol of medicine. But you must be wondering, what in the world are these pieces of rubber doing next to high tech equipment like MRI scanners and robotic surgery? Surely these are obsolete relics from the 19th century! Well the answer lies at the intersection of history, the human body and technology. The Stethoscope was invented in 1816 by a French Physician called René Laennec. Here are some of the best stethoscope reviews- https://firstaidtools.com/best-stethoscope-reviews/
René invented it because he was a gentleman and he felt uncomfortable putting his ear on women’s chests to hear their heart sounds. And no I’m not making that up! But why would you want to listen to the heart sounds in the first place? A key challenge for a doctor is to find out what’s happening inside the human body, without resorting to opening it up. As technology has progressed, we have found different ways of peering inside a living person without harming them, things like X-rays,ultrasound and MRI. But the first X-ray wasn’t taken until 1895 and an X-ray can only provide you with a still image. It can’t tell you about what’s happening inside the body in real time. Is a physician in the early 1800's, René knew that listening to the heart sounds can provide a clue to whether the heart valves are working properly. In our hearts, there are 4 valves that help push blood only in one direction. When the valves shut, they make a sound and the normal heartbeat has 2 clearly distinguishable sounds. When the heart valves don’t function properly,you can hear this whooshing sound as blood passes through them. For example, this is the sound of a common heart valve condition called Aortic Stenosis.
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