History of the Stethoscope

The history of the stethoscope begins in 1816 with a French physician, Rene Laennec, who was born February 17th 1781 in Quimper France - the same year as the American Revolution Battle of Yorkshire. He described his stethoscope invention as follows (translated from French):

"In 1816 I was consulted by a young woman presenting with general symptoms of disease of the heart. Owing to her stoutness, little information could be gathered by application of the hand and percussion. The patient's age and gender did not permit me to resort to the kind of examination I have described (placing my ear to her chest). I recalled a well known acoustic phenomenon: if you place your ear against one end of a wood beam the scratch of a pin at the other end is distinctly audible. It occurred to me that this physical property might serve a useful purpose in the case I was dealing with. I then tightly rolled a sheet of paper, one end of which I placed over the precordium (chest) and my ear to the other. I was surprised and elated to be able to hear the beating of her heart with far greater clearness than I ever had with direct application of my ear. I immediately saw that this might become an indispensable method for studying, not only the beating of the heart, but all movements able of producing sound in the chest cavity."

Laennec's Stethoscope Invention Drawing

Laennec spent the next three years perfecting his stethoscope design and listening to the chest findings of patients with pneumonia, comparing what he heard to their autopsy findings. From this he published the first seminal work on the use of listening to body sounds entitled De L'auscultation Mediate in 1819 at thirty-eight years old. Ironically, Laennec himself died of tuberculosis on August 13th, 1826.

Rene Laennec

What we recognize today as a stethoscope, the 'two ear' type, was invented in 1852 by the American George Cammann. And more recently, electronic stethoscopes with microphones and amplifiers have been made but have not been widely adopted to date. And here ends the history of the stethoscope, for now...

A Stethoscope

Laura

29/6/2009 12:48 pm

i want to be a doctor so badly when i grow up. i have done since i was 4-5 ish. i already know witch medi school i want to go to and everything. i hope my dream comes true.

anonymous

27/6/2009 5:25 pm

I'm 11 and I want to be a vet when I grow up, but its nice to know first aid and practice in the mean time

russell

17/6/2009 7:36 am

I live in malta, a small island in the centre of the mediterrean. I'm am only 13 years old and i wish to become a doctor when i grow up.

matsuflex

1/6/2009 9:59 pm

i've had dreams of me being rich, being a hollywood doc, i wish that would be real. i wanna be a doctor. see what its like

Regina

1/6/2009 1:22 am

i'd love to be a doctor when i grow up!!!!

ronalyn

28/4/2009 6:38 pm

i really had a great time reading the history of the stethoscope.
i am a first year nursing student in philippines.
this story brought me to Dr. Laennec's time because i imagined everything. thanx for this informative story.

roman

25/4/2009 12:07 am

i'm an indigent student of a small university in the Philippines Currently studying nursing and have plans of becoming a doctor..I would wish for a kind hearted person to donate a stethoscope because i have a hard time borrowing from my classmates..thank you..

FLORA .B.

1/4/2009 6:29 pm

I WANT TO BE A DOCTOR WHEN I GROW UP....IT HAS BEEN MY DREAM SINCE A WAS A LITTLE GIRL.....I HOPE MY DREAM WILL BE FULL FILLED IN BEING A CHILDREN'S DOCTOR (PEDIATRICION)

sarah palin

31/3/2009 7:21 pm

I think you guys are amazing keep doing what your doing

anomymous

28/2/2009 10:03 pm

this article is soooo helpful! thanks a LOT!

theresa

22/2/2009 3:37 pm

i love this site

DS!

19/2/2009 5:06 pm

Sorry Brandi. Not sure. Assume the original was either glue or screwed together. Modern stethoscopes come in modular pieces which are snapped together.

Brandi

18/2/2009 9:04 pm

how was the stethoscope put together

Pages: 1

Group article on stethoscope origins

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