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 When
you go to see a doctor, what do doctors do first to diagnose you?
They put a stethoscope on your chest. It is amazing that this small
device can find out our symptoms. Now, you might
wonder who first made this. Let me introduce the person who invented this wonderful tool.
French physician Rene Laennec created the stethoscope. He was born
in Quimber, Brittany, France in 1781. When he was six years old, his
mother died from tuberculosis. After the loss
of his mother, he moved to live with his uncle. In fact, Rene was
motivated by his uncle, who
worked in the school of medicine at a university, to start medical
studies. Even though his father didn’t want him to be a doctor, he
didn’t give up. Eventually, he became a physician.
 Since
physicians diagnose diseases inside
people’s bodies, they have to listen to the sound that the inner body
makes. Long ago when there were no stethoscopes, they put their
ear to a patient’s chest to listen to the sound. So did Rene.
However, he noticed that women patients
felt embarrassed when doctors
did this. He thought ‘What can I do to give my patients a check-up
without inconvenience?’
 Meanwhile,
he saw children playing around while he was taking a walk. The children
were talking to each other as they put wooden sticks to each other’s
ear. That rang a bell with Rene! He thought ‘In that way, I could
hear a heart beat without putting
my ear to someone’s chest.’ He rolled up paper and tied
it up with thread. Then, he put it to
the patients’ chest.
Surprisingly, it worked! “Yes! I can hear a clear sound!” he shouted.
This was the first time that a doctor examined a patient using a tool.
Afterwards, it was improved more and more. After
a couple of changes, we can finally see today’s stethoscope.
With the invention of the stethoscope, doctors were able to diagnose
diseases more accurately. We should appreciate
Rene’s great dedication! |
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