Stethoscope

A stethoscope is a medical device which is used to listen to the internal sounds of human beings or even of animal body. It is one of the most essential piece medical instruments. A stethoscope can also be put in work to listen to the sounds made by lungs, intestines, heart and as well as the flow of the blood in veins and arteries.
Since stethoscope made it’s entrance in the medical field, it has evolved a lot in terms of technology and also in terms of what the professional specialists and doctors actually look for when they listen through it.

What all parts does a Stethoscope consist of ?

A stethoscope consist of eight ( 8 ) important parts:

1. Chest piece

   Chest piece is also known as the as the head of the stethoscope. It is round in shape. It is the part which is put against the chest of a patient’s body in order to hear the internal sounds. Works best when put directly to the patient’s skin. The responsibility of a stethoscope is to detect, capture and transferring sound to the headset. Also, it is the most important part amongst all the other parts of the stethoscope.
   It totally depends on the model that a stethoscope would either have a one-sided or two-sided chest piece.

2. A Diaphragm

   The circular end and the round part of the chest piece is known as a diaphragm. It is the large size of it which allows you to listen to the wider area of the patient’s body. It’s speciality is that it can detect sounds of higher frequencies.
   These days, the diaphragm are designed in such a way that the patient does not feel chill of it when put directly to the skin of patient.

3. 
   

   A Bell

   A bell is a circular end of a chest piece. Because of it being smaller in size, It can detect sounds with lower frequencies in comparison to the diaphragm and is totally ideal for, what are to be known as the smaller body parts.

4. 
   

   A Stem

   The part which connects the chest piece to the tubing of the stethoscope is known as the Stem. It is usually made up of steel or metal, It also ensure a secure link for the optimum performance. It can also allow you to switch between the bell and diaphragm or vise a versa.

5. 
   

   A Tubing

   The tubing is a PVC material pipe or a rubber that simply connects the chest piece to the stethoscope. Its’s natural function is to transfer the sound waves picked up by the diaphragm and the bell to the headset with minimum quality loss, It all basically depends on the type or the quality of the tube.

6. 
   

   A Headset

   The headset is considered to be the upper half part of the stethoscope. It makes sure that there’s a efficient flow of the sound that goes to the ear canal with least disturbance possible.

7. 
   

   An Ear Tube

   The hollow metal tubes that connect the acoustic tubes to the ear tips is known as an ear tube. The tension springs usually rest between the ear tubes which helps you to decide and adjust how tight your stethoscope should sit on your ears.

8. 
   

   And Ear Tips

   The part that goes inside the ear is known as a ear tip. Ear buds are usually made out of silicone or rubber. They are normally placed on the ends of a ear tubes and further have a hole in the middle for letting out the sound. The ear tips should generally be soft and yet should be quite hard to create a seal in your ears and eliminate all the external sound.