Stethoscopes are an essential asset for any medical practitioner. They help access a patient’s condition by listening to internal body sound. Stethoscopes are used to monitor heartbeats, but they can also be used to listen to sounds emanating from the arteries, intestines, and veins. They can also be used to examine either human beings or animals. Below are five common types of stethoscopes.
Acoustic stethoscope
Acoustic stethoscopes are the most common types of stethoscopes today. They feature a, a hollow rubber tube, identical earpiece, and a chest piece. The latter, has a diaphragm and bell each on different sides. The diagram listens to low-frequency sounds while the bell listens to high-frequency sounds. Acoustic stethoscopes are not an ideal option when listening to faint sounds or when examining someone in a noisy environment.
Electronic stethoscope
This is a new stethoscope model. It can amplify sounds for the benefit of the listener. This type of stethoscopes converts acoustic waves into electric waves, and thus this enhances hearing. Thus, this makes it the best option, when one either is listening to faint sounds or is working in a noisy environment. That said, you can be sure that this feature has contributed to its increased popularity.
Noise reduction stethoscope
As the name suggests this type of stethoscope has a feature that allows blocking of any unnecessary sound. As such, the listener will only listen to the appropriate sound. This feature makes these types of stethoscopes the best option when one is working in a noisy environment.
Recordable stethoscopes
This is a more advanced type of stethoscopes. These types of stethoscopes have a cable and an interface that allows you to connect them to other electronic devices and record the audio generated. Later, you can have an opportunity of playing the recording at varied speeds to have a clear examination. More to this, you can use the recordings to generate graphs. These stethoscopes are vital when subsequent consultation required.
Fetal stethoscopes
This stethoscope is used among pregnant women, to examine the heartbeat of the developing fetus. They can also be referred to as pinards or fetoscopes. Nevertheless, with the advancements in technology, this type of stethoscopes gas been replaced with an electronic sonaid.
These are some of the main stethoscopes that every medical practitioner should consider having. The unit chosen is informed by the nature of operations. As a tip, getting the best stethoscope calls for due diligence on your part,
