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How does a stethoscope work? |
Everyday Marvels
When you go to the doctor, he or she probably uses a stethoscope to listen to your heart and maybe also your lungs or your abdomen (belly). But how does this special device work?
Stethoscopes work like speakers for doctors: They amplify (make louder) the sounds inside your body to give them a better idea of what’s going on in there! Have you ever looked at the way a stethoscope is made? On one end are earpieces that go in the doctor’s ears. Coming down from the earpieces are hollow tubes that connect at the end to the special piece the doctor places against the patient’s body, known as the “diaphragm” or the “bell.”
The diaphragm or the bell has the important job of collecting all of the vibrations happening inside the patient’s body and sending them up through the stethoscope’s hollow tubes and into the earpieces! These vibrations are what our ears recognize as sounds, and so the doctor can listen to what’s happening inside using just a simple stethoscope! COOL!
Gimme a beat!
Before the stethoscope was invented, doctors would sometimes try to listen to the sounds inside a patient using just their ear. Even though they weren’t able to hear as many sounds as a stethoscope can supply, there were some things they were still able to hear.
Have you ever listened to a heartbeat?? They’re usually loud enough to hear without a stethoscope. Ask a family member or friend you are close with if you can try to hear his or her heartbeat -- to do this, you’ll need to put your ear up against the other person’s chest, like giving a close hug.
What do you hear? What does the rhythm of the heart beat sound like? In what part of the chest did you find the heartbeat? Try to count as many of the beats as you can!
