stethoscope

stethoscope
stethoscoped, adj.stethoscopist /ste thos"keuh pist/, n.stethoscopy /ste thos"keuh pee, steth"euh skoh'-/, n.
/steth"euh skohp'/, n. Med.
an instrument used in auscultation to convey sounds in the chest or other parts of the body to the ear of the examiner.
[1810-20; STETHO- + -SCOPE]

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      medical instrument used in listening to sounds produced within the body, chiefly in the heart or lungs auscultation. It was invented by the French physician R.T.H. Laënnec (Laënnec, René-Théophile-Hyacinthe), who in 1819 described the use of a perforated wooden cylinder to transmit sounds from the patient's chest (Greek: stēthos) to the physician's ear. This monaural stethoscope was modified to more convenient forms, but it has been largely supplanted by the binaural type with two flexible rubber tubes attaching the chest piece to spring-connected metal tubes with earpieces. In listening to heart sounds, in particular, it is necessary to use both a bell-shaped, open-ended chest piece, which transmits low-pitched sounds well, and the flat chest piece covered with a semirigid disk (diaphragm type) that detects sounds of higher frequency. Instruments having both types of chest piece, arranged so that they can be rapidly interchanged by turning a valve, are widely used.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • stéthoscope — [ stetɔskɔp ] n. m. • 1819; du gr. stêthos « poitrine » et scope ♦ Instrument destiné à l auscultation des bruits à travers les parois du corps. Stéthoscope biauriculaire, comportant une plaque réceptrice où convergent deux tubes flexibles qui s… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Stethoscope — Stéthoscope Un stéthoscope (du grec stêthos (στῆθος), poitrine , et scope du grec ancien skopein (σκοπεϊν), « observer ») est un instrument médical acoustique, utilisé pour l auscultation, c’est à dire l écoute des sons internes au… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Stethoscope — Steth o*scope, v. t. To auscultate, or examine, with a stethoscope. M. W. Savage. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • stethoscope — 1820, from Fr. stéthoscope, coined 1819 by its inventor, Fr. physician René Théophile Hyacinthe Laënnec (1781 1826) from Gk. stethos chest, breast + SCOPE (Cf. scope). Gk. stethos is perhaps related to sternon (see STERNUM (Cf. sternum)); it… …   Etymology dictionary

  • stethoscope — [steth′ə skōp΄] n. [Fr stéthoscope: see STETHO & SCOPE] Med. a hearing instrument used in auscultation, for examining the heart, lungs, etc. by listening to the sounds they make stethoscopic [steth′ōskäp′ik] adj. stethoscopical stethoscopically… …   English World dictionary

  • Stethoscope — Steth o*scope (st[e^]th [ o]*sk[=o]p), n. [Gr. sth^qos the breast + scope: cf. F. st[ e]thoscope.] (Med.) An instrument used in auscultation for examining the organs of the chest, as the heart and lungs, by conveying to the ear of the examiner… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • stethoscope — ► NOUN ▪ a medical instrument for listening to the action of someone s heart or breathing, having a small disc that is placed against the chest and two tubes connected to earpieces. ORIGIN from Greek st thos breast + skopein look at …   English terms dictionary

  • Stethoscope — Modern stethoscope. The stethoscope (from Greek στηθοσκόπιο, from στήθος, stéthos chest and σκοπή, skopé examination) is an acoustic medical device for auscultation, or listening to the internal sounds of an animal body. It is often used to… …   Wikipedia

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  • stethoscope — An instrument originally devised by Laennec for aid in hearing the respiratory and cardiac sounds in the chest, but now modified in various ways and used in auscultation of any of vascular or other sounds anywhere in the body. [stetho + G. skopeo …   Medical dictionary

  • stethoscope — UK [ˈsteθəˌskəʊp] / US [ˈsteθəˌskoʊp] noun [countable] Word forms stethoscope : singular stethoscope plural stethoscopes a piece of equipment used by doctors for listening to someone s heart or breathing …   English dictionary

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