Has the stethoscope had its day?
by Lenny Bernstein for the Washington Post from on (#104FC)
After two centuries of service, the iconic diagnostic device has acquired its fair share of detractors
The stethoscope is having a crossroads moment. Perhaps more than at any time in its two-century history, this ubiquitous tool of the medical profession is at the centre of debate over how medicine should be practised.
In recent years, the sounds it transmits from the heart, lungs, blood vessels and bowels have been digitised, amplified, filtered and recorded. Last year, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a stethoscope that can faithfully reproduce those sounds on a mobile phone app or send them directly to an electronic medical record.
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