3M Littman Stethoscope – A Boon in disguise
It was about 180 years ago in the year 1819 when the French physician Rene Laennec developed the first wooden stethoscope which had a large diameter base and it had to be placed on the chest.
It was about 180 years ago in the year 1819 when the French physician Rene Laennec developed the first wooden stethoscope which had a large diameter base and it had to be placed on the chest. The sound was funneled through a smaller opening into the ear of the physician. However it was a one-eared stethoscope. Some noteworthy innovations in this field are that of the stethoscopes that carry a large side of the diaphragm and a small side diaphragm. The large side of the diaphragm is for adults and the small side is specially designed for sound with pediatric patients. This makes it a truly multipurpose tool for the doctor, cardiologist and nurse.
However, the stethoscope industry was revolutionized by a German cardiologist Dr. David Littmann. He was a professor and researcher at Harvard Medical School. He patented the well known ‘Littmann Stethoscope’ which is reputed for its acoustic performances for listening to sounds within the body. Gus Machlup helped Dr. David Littmann to open a firm called Cardiosonics, Inc. which sold their stethoscopes. Later it was acquired by 3M on April 1st, 1967. They also hired Dr. Littmann as their consultant. This led the way to the revolutionary ‘3M Littmann Stethoscope’.
3M currently produces the range of Littmann brand stethoscopes which are named as 3M Littmann Stethoscope. Listening to body sounds and translating it to a form that has a meaning is really an art in the hands of a qualified health care professional. The 3M Littmann Stethoscope helps these professionals to interpret these life saving signals using today’s advanced acoustical stethoscopes. For a medical practitioner, nothing is more relevant and useful than the use of this stethoscope. It was so revolutionary that you can ask any doctor or health professional, and he would most likely be using a 3M Littmann stethoscope. It uses 3M´s new Noise Reduction technology, which makes it possible to reduce off-putting room noise by an average of 75% over the bell and diaphragm operating range. This is credibly the most important trait of the 3M Littmann stethoscope. This stethoscope is exclusively equipped to help the medical doctor catch that difficult-to-hear heart, lung and other body sounds amidst disturbing noises. Along with this, the newly improved tunable diaphragm technology used in the 3M Littmann Stethoscopes, allows the health practitioner to adjust the pressure on the chest piece in order to alter from bell mode to diaphragm mode and vice-versa.
Today 3M Littmann stethoscopes are used worldwide. A very wide variety of chest piece designs, are available to virtually meet every auscultation need. To compliment it, Littmann stethoscopes’ amenities for doctors and patients include nonchill rims, patented 3M Littmann Snap Tight Soft-Sealing Ear tips, anatomically correct ear tubes and a choice of modern-day tubing colors. The standards for stethoscope performance, sound transmission, efficiency and comfort for both wearer and patient have come a long way from Rene Laennec’s stethoscopes. The next time we see a medical practitioner with a 3M Littmann stethoscope, there are very high chances that he is using a Littmann stethoscope, and we can be grateful to the efforts of the brilliant cardiologist Professor David Littmann.
Resources:
Marc Lutz is the author of this article on 3m Littmann Stethoscope.
Find more information about Littmann cardiology III here.
