To hear a patient’s heart, doctors used to just put an ear up to a patient’s chest and listen. Then, in 1816, things changed. Lore has it that 35-year-old Paris physician Rene Laennec was caring for a ...

Source: estableman/Pixabay René Laennec and Anna Li are both innovative problem-finders from the world of medicine. In the 1860s, Laennec, a French physician, wanted a more effective way to listen to ...

When someone opens the door and enters a hospital room, wearing a stethoscope is a telltale sign that they’re a clinician. This medical device has been around for over 200 years and remains a staple ...

Editor's note: One of the most intriguing stories we ran in 2015 looked at — and listened to — how the invention of the stethoscope changed medicine. We're presenting it again, in case you missed it ...

A new study suggests stethoscopes need to be cleaned more diligently. The stethoscope has long been an iconic symbol of health care used for listening to the heart, intestines, lungs and blood flow.

Two centuries after its invention, the stethoscope — the very symbol of the medical profession — is facing an uncertain prognosis. It is threatened by hand-held devices that are also pressed against ...