René Theophile Hyacinthe Laënnec

 René Theophile Hyacinthe Laënnec

Laënnec was a French physician in the 1800s who was able to create the stethoscope. The stethoscope is an important instrument that allows individuals to listen to the heart and abdominal sounds. The stethoscope was created to listen to the heart sounds and allow physicians to diagnose and rule out diseases. We learn that Laënnec created the stethoscope in 1816 in order to listen to the heart of a patient. The stethoscope along with the ophthalmoscope and laryngoscope have helped physicians diagnose disease in the physical exam.

We learn that Laënnec was able to have difficulty hearing the heart sounds of a patient and decided to roll up a paper into a cylinder and hear the heart sounds by placing one end of the paper into the patient's chest and the other end of the paper to his ear. After realizing that he could auscultate and listen to the heart sounds of a patient understanding how sound travels, Laënnec decided to create the stethoscope. 

In the 1800s, the stethoscope was able to help physicians diagnose tuberculosis. We learn that tuberculosis is a dangerous disease that severely affected individuals in the 1800s. We learn that diseases were able to be diagnosed with the help of the stethoscope. The stethoscope is able to hear the heart sounds. The heart can also produce abnormal sounds that are different from the healthy "lub dub" that is commonly heard when there is illness. The stethoscope can also hear the sound of the lungs and help diagnose respiratory illnesses.

The stethoscope can also help listen to the abdominal sounds to understand if the abdomen is healthy. For these specific reasons, the stethoscope became a great tool that can help diagnose disease or illness. In the 1800s, there were new medical inventions and also the understanding of germ theory. These medical inventions and understanding of microbiology and medical knowledge allowed great progress to be made against diseases. We can be grateful for the medical innovations and medical knowledge that allowed for the prevention of medical illness.