General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Bright silver metal [alloy] chest piece and ear tubes; off-white moulded synthetic ear buds; dark brown/black synthetic tubing connects ear pieces to chest piece; opaque synthetic membrane on face of chest piece conducts sound.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

56.0 cm

Width

9.3 cm

Height

3.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Medical Technology

Category

Instruments

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Cardiosonics

Country

United States of America

State/Province

Massachusetts

City

Cambridge

Context

Country

North America

State/Province

Unknown

Period

Presumably used c. 1960s-1970s; possibly also used later.

Canada

Part of a large collection of medical artifacts, archival material & trade literature transferred to CSTM in 2002 from the former History of Medicine Museum, Toronto, ON.

Function

Allows user to hear sounds from within the body. Especially used to listen to heart, pulse & lungs.

Technical

Developed by Dr. David Littmann in 1961, this instrument rapidly became popular: it's simple design remains the basis for most stethoscopes used in medical practice today [2010]. It's open chest piece allows the user to better hear low-pitched sounds; firm tubing has a single lumen bore; it is constructed of the shortest practical overall length; has a spring with precise tension to hold the ear tubes apart; and is lightweight and convenient to carry and use. It was made in two models: the doctor's stethoscope and the nurse's stethoscope. This example was made by Cardiosonics, the small Cambridge, Mass. company which first produced the Littmann stethoscope. [Ref. 2] This example donated to History of Medicine Museum, Toronto by Cardiosonics Corp., for use in1966 exhibit on the history of stethoscopes. Display label caption read in part "Modern light alloy acoustically ideal Littmann Stethoscope" . [Ref. 3]

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

"LITTMANN STETHOSCOPE/ BY CARDIOSONICS/ PAT. PEND." stamped into back of chest piece. UHN catalogue no. "X966.8" printed by hand in white ink on rim of chest piece.

Missing

Appears complete.

Finish

Bright silver metal chest piece and ear tubes; off-white moulded synthetic ear buds; dark brown/black synthetic tubing connects ear pieces to chest piece; thin opaque synthetic membrane on face of chest piece conducts sound.

Decoration

N/A