Whenever someone sees the stethoscope, regardless of grown-ups or children, they will always associate it with doctors immediately. Have you ever thought who invented the stethoscope?

We always think stethoscopes and doctors are inseparable, but the instrument was actually a modern invention intended for auscultation. It was invented less than 200 years ago in 1816 by Dr Rene Laennec, who worked on this invention in his leisure time. The hospital at which this French doctor practiced is still there in the heart of Paris today.

Dr Laennec's stethoscopes was a vertical and monaural device, its original appearance was totally different to what we are familiar with today. The initial design was like the telescope carried by the famous navigator and explorer Christopher Columbus. Dr Golding Bird, a British medical doctor, improved the design and turned it into a flexible instrument, and Dr George Cammann, an American doctor, had perfected the stethoscope by making it binaural.

At present, the stethoscope has become an essential device for almost every medical doctor – even vets.

Great inventions that can change the world are not necessarily creations by genii like Thomas Alva Edison. Let us give our thanks to Dr Laennec.

By Dr Lee Ka Lok
Staff Specialist in Emergency Medicine

(This article is translated from Dr Lee Ka Lok’s original article in Chinese.)