Evaluation of a visual display stethoscope

摘要

The acoustic stethoscope is a device designed to amplify weak inaudible sounds, such as heart sounds, blood flow sounds, lung sounds and abdominal sounds to audible level. The process requires excellent hearing and the ability to discriminate between slight differences in pitch and timing. The aim of the study was to evaluate the traditional acoustic stethoscope against a visual display stethoscope. A questionnaire study of a variety of clinicians and a laboratory based comparative study were undertaken. The results showed that the acoustic stethoscope is accepted by clinicians as easy to use, but doubt has been cast on the validity and subjectivity of the sounds heard. The visual display stethoscope was perceived as considerably better in both sound reproduction and objectivity of evaluation.