Question

Name the instrument that is used for listening to sounds produced within the body.

Answer 1

Stethoscope:

1. The stethoscope is a medical instrument utilized for hearing the sounds produced inside the body, mostly in the heart or lungs. It was invented by the French physician René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laënnec.
2. In hearing the heart sounds, specifically, it is essential to use both, a bell-shaped, open-ended chest piece, which gives off low-pitched sounds, and the flat chest piece that is covered with a half rigid disk i.e., diaphragm type.
3. It detects sounds of higher frequency. Instruments having both types of chest pieces are arranged so that they can be quickly interchanged by turning a valve, and are widely used.
4. Heart sounds are produced by blood flowing in and out of the heart’s chambers via the valves as they open and close. Hearing the heart sounds with the help of a stethoscope i.e., auscultation is one of the first steps a physician takes in assessing a patient’s medical condition.
5. Auscultation is the medical term for utilizing a stethoscope to hear the sounds from within the body.
6. Heart sounds give important information regarding heart function.
7. Auscultation is utilized to find out abnormal heart sounds and determine further courses of action.