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Stethoscopes for Sale
Everyone remembers going to the doctor as a child and he places an icy cold instrument on your chest to listen to your 'ticker.' If you're lucky, they warmed it in their cold hands before. This tool, as you may know, is called a stethoscope. It's a staple part of doctors uniforms just as much as a white coat is, except it is a lot more useful than the white coat, which is really only a staple that is used to inspire awe, or fear, if you are scared of white coats. The stethoscope has morphed through the years from a pretty rudimentary instrument into a more sophisticated tool which can be used for myriad reasons, if used properly. It is an easy tool to use, which makes knowledge of the subject itself rather than knowledge of the tool perhaps its most important feature. The tool is an examination tool, not used in most final diagnosis, but often being the first line of checking for problems in a number of areas. Because it is quick and readily available for pretty much all doctors, it is a great tool for the basic doctors check-up tool kit. It doesn't replace interior imaging techniques like the MRI or the X-Ray, but it is a great tool for the purpose of giving the doctor an idea of where they should start their investigation of the symptoms.
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A stethoscope is a tool the doctor uses to listen to your heart, lungs, intestines, and arteries. It has been around since 1816 and originally looked like a hollow stick. The French inventor Rene Laennec broke ground with this invention and sold it alongside a book he was publishing. The hole through the middle of this one is almost 8 mm in diameter and it was made of wood and meant to listen with just one ear. This particular stethoscope can be taken apart into two pieces for portability.
Generally, a doctor needs to have a stethoscope for basic check-ups when they are trying to determine a number of things: regularity of the heart rate, pulse, and whether or not there are irregularities in the lungs of the person they are checking up on. Essentially, the stethoscope has done a number of things to revolutionize the field of medicine. First was that it gave a clearer sound to the heart, allowing the doctor to diagnose heart problems without having to go through any surgical or other diagnostic procedures, and then it also made it easier for the doctor to take the heart rate of a patient, rather than having to check pulses with their fingers on the wrist, which is a less exact method.
This was primarily just used to listen to the heart at first. It was later discovered the vast uses for a stethoscope.
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Later in the century, the stethoscope took on a look a lot like a trumpet, which is exactly why it was often referred to as the 'ear trumpet.' They were a funnel-like device and some were being developed with a metal attachment like the one to the far left in this group. These antique stethoscopes for sale are all different shapes and sizes. Some are meant for infants and some adults. It was really up to the individual doctor and his preference on which to use. The style of the stethoscope really didn't morph into what it is today until the uses of it were realized, and doctors decided to refine their model so as to more accurately hear what was going on inside the body.
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As with everything else, technology prevails. Modern stethoscopes for sale have a flexible tube so the doctor does not have to stand directly above or infront of the patient to listen to their heartbeat.
The metal of the stethoscope has also made it easier for the doctor to hear what is going on in the body, rather than the wood, which was a little bit less sensitive to sound and the vibrations coming from within the body. The effect was, in rather simplistic terms, similar to the difference between listening to a conversation through a wall by pressing your ear against it, and listening to the same conversation by placing a glass cup against the wall and then listening through that. It made the sounds clearer and more precise, if not perfectly lucid.
They also have two earpieces that fit securely and snug inside the ear. This is so the doctor can hear it better since it cancels the outside noise. Some technologically advanced doctors actually have digital electronic or digital stethoscopes, like the one to the right. These are useful to doctors because they amplify the sound using microphones and speakers. This allows the doctor to hear otherwise undetected heart murmurs and lung abnormalities.
Stethoscopes for sale today can cost between $150 and $500 depending on whether you get a digital stethoscope or not.
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