Technical Object Description of Stethoscope
Stethoscope
A Stethoscope is a medical instrument used for detecting sounds produced inside the body and conveyed to the practitioner’s ear through tubing that connects to the piece placed on the area of examination. The major parts of a stethoscope include the chest piece, the diaphragm, the stem, acoustic tubes, headset, ear tubes, and the ear pieced. Besides, each part of the instrument plays a different role in facilitating the functionality of the device. Primarily, a stethoscope is used in listening and assessing the heart, lungs, and bowel tract. Professionals also use the stethoscope to listen to the flow of blood in the peripheral vessels and the heart sounds of the developing fetus in a pregnant woman. This paper aims at describing the stethoscope by analyzing the various parts and the use of the instrument in the medical sector.
Parts of the Stethoscope
Chest piece
The chest piece part of the stethoscope is also known as the head. It is the part of the instrument that conducts sound. Usually, the chest piece is placed against the patient’s skin.there is a single and double chest piece. For single chest pieces, they only have diaphragms. In some cases, some have tunable diaphragms, which acts as both the diaphragm and the bell. For the two-sided chest piece, there is a diaphragm on one side and a bell when the rotated, hence allowing the user to choose the side that they need to use. Usually, the chest piece is made of metal. However, they are now made of the acrylic head, which is essential for blocking out ambient noise.
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The chest piece comprises of the bell, diaphragm, and stem. The diaphragm is the circular end of the chest piece. On the two-sided chest piece, the diaphragm is the larger part of the two. The large size of the diaphragm allows the user to listen to a large frequency. This part of the chest piece is designed to pick up sounds at a high frequency. The other part of the chest piece is the bell. A bell is a circular end of the chest piece, but smaller than the diaphragm. Bells have a small diameter with more constrained, and that emphases on lower frequency sound as compared to the diaphragm. It also has features that provide better comfort for patients during examinations. Bell has a small size, which makes it ideal for use by pediatric patients and skinner patients. It is often applicable when dealing with bandaged areas or carotid areas. The last part of the chest piece is the stem. This is the part that connects the chest piece to the tubing of the stethoscope. The stem is made of metal or steel, and it is the part of the two-sided stethoscope that allows the user to rate from using the diaphragm to using the bell and the other way round.
Tubing, headset, ear tubes, and ear tips
The tubing part of the stethoscope is responsible for transferring and relaying sounds or frequencies picked up by the chest piece. Tubing usually directs the sounds to the ear tubes so that the user can hear them. It comes as a single or dual lumen tube design. In the case of the former, there is only one channel, while the latter is divided into two sound channels that directed to the outer tube. This is the right and the left path that ensures that sound reaches the ear of the practitioner with great accuracy. It is made of PVC, polyvinyl chloride. It is a solid plastic made more soft and flexible from the polymerization of Vinyl Chloride. This part of the stethoscope is made up of tension springs, two ear tubes, and ear tips.
Ear tubes connect the stethoscope tubing to the ear tips. The ear tube is usually made of steel or metal and is designed to be at an optimal angle for the best fit into the ear canal of users. The last part of the stethoscope is ear tips. These are the parts that go into the ear. They are made of rubber of silicone with a hole in the middle to allow sound out. Ear tips are at the end of the tubes to provide an acoustic seal and to improve the safety of users. Ear tips should give a snug but comfortable fit for the user.
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Conclusion
Physicians use a stethoscope to detect bruits, the abnormal whooshing sound of blood through the artery indicating the narrowing of the artery. The equipment can also be used in measuring the span of the liver. The examination of the liver is often conducted through tapping of the belly. Lastly, a stethoscope is used for hearing aid. They are used as hearing aid patients with hearing impairments.