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Nowadays, stethoscopes have become synonymous with the medical profession. You will be hard-pressed to see a doctor or nurse without one wrapped around their neck in a hospital. If you’ve been to a doctor’s visit, you’ve likely been auscultated by a stethoscope.
It typically consists of two earpieces on one end, which are connected to the chest piece on the other end by rubber tubing. This allows medical professionals to listen to the heartbeat, breathing, as well as other bodily sounds of patients, thereby determining if anything unusual is going on.
However, this iconic medical instrument did not always hold its current status or form. In addition, the device is evolving along with technological progress in the digital health era.
In this article, we take a look at the evolution of the stethoscope, by first going through its origins, current upgrades and future potentials.
The origins of the stethoscope
It might sound strange now, but doctors didn’t always use stethoscopes to listen to the heart and lung sounds of their patients. Instead, they would put their ear next to the chest for auscultation, but this would lead to some awkward interactions.
To avoid this, French physician René Laennec came up with a solution in 1816. He rolled a piece of paper into a tube to listen to the heartbeat of a female patient without having to put his ear to her chest. He called his invention “stethoscope,” a portmanteau of the Greek words ‘stethos’ and ‘skopein’, which translate to ‘chest’ and ‘to view/see’, respectively.
However, this first iteration of the stethoscope was monaural, allowing the user to listen with one ear only. In addition, acceptance of the pioneering tool had a slow start due to reluctance from medical professionals to adopt it in practice.
As evidence of the stethoscope’s effectiveness grew, so did its adoption and improvements towards the middle of the 19th century. It was Irish physician Arthur Leared who created the binaural version in 1851. He improved on Laennec’s version by integrating with two earpieces. But these were attached to stiff tubes and were not the most practical.
Another physician, George Cammann, commercialised a version of the stethoscope that consisted of earpieces connected to a hinge joint and an elastic band. The device saw some smaller modifications over the years and, by the 1940s, stethoscopes commonly came with two different bells connected to the earpieces with two large, rubber tubes.
This bulky design was in need of improvements. This came from cardiologist Dr. David Littmann in 1961, whose iteration of the stethoscope was lighter, included a single tube, and had better acoustics. This version of the medical device endured, and the Littmann brand of stethoscope is among the most popular within the medical community.
The stethoscope in the digital health age
The next evolutionary stage of the stethoscope was its digitisation. The first electronic attempts date back to the 1970s, but were limited in terms of sound quality. In 1999, Dr. Richard Deslauriers helped develop the recording stethoscope. This version was able to record and playback heart and chest sounds; features which were not possible with analogue stethoscopes and hinted at what could be possible in the future.
The 2010s saw further explorations of this idea. Companies like CliniCloud and eKuore released wireless digital stethoscopes which packed more features than their traditional counterparts. For example, CliniCloud’s companion app can guide non-professionals in taking readings, while eKuore’s app can record and share readings.
While neither CliniCloud nor eKuore survived the competitive tech landscape, others fared better. For example, the artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted StethoMe allows parents to monitor their children’s respiratory health. This focus on children likely helped the company stand out and thrive.
Others still tried to expand what the stethoscope could be. The recently-released Withings BeamO is not only a digital stethoscope capable of recording heart and lung sounds, but combines a thermometer, a two-channel ECG and a pulse oximeter in a single device.
But the biggest player in the digital stethoscope market has been Eko. The company also started with the 2010s wave, with devices like the Eko Core. In 2020, teamed with the established Littmann brand to release Littmann stethoscopes equipped with Eko’s digital technology. The company has been pursuing further innovation since then, with the launch of an AI-powered stethoscope in 2025. This is an indication of the next stage of the stethoscope’s evolution as the tried-and-trusted doctor’s companion is set for an AI upgrade.
AI as the stethoscope of the 21st century
As the new generation of stethoscopes adopts new features that augment the physical examination, we are inching towards a future where these devices become all-in-one tools. They are increasingly becoming must-haves for medical professionals of the 21st century, enabling them to gain deeper insights about a patient with a single device.
Notably, such insights are increasingly being supported via AI technology. Digital stethoscopes that use AI-based apps can recognise patterns from the readings in real-time and provide expert recommendations and guidance. This is beneficial in areas where access to human experts is limited or in situations where medical professionals are not available.
This is tending towards a future where readings from stethoscopes, as well as from other medical examination tools, are being supplemented with AI assistance. As such, the technology is becoming akin to the indispensable stethoscope. Just like the latter has accompanied the doctor throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, AI will become the doctor’s companion in the 21st century, essentially making the technology the stethoscope of this century.
This is not to say that physical examinations or even doctors will be obsolete. Deeper investigations, such as X-ray imaging and blood analyses, will still be required, but with the assistance of AI, physicians and nurses will be able to dedicate more time to their patients. The need for compassionate, empathetic care will be more important as AI handles routine and data-heavy tasks.
In a similar way that there was reluctance from the medical community in initially adopting the stethoscope, there will be reluctance to adopt AI within clinical practice. But as evidence of the technology’s benefits mounts, so will its uptake. It won’t be a case of AI replacing doctors and nurses, but one where medical professionals who use AI will replace those who don’t.
Written by Dr. Bertalan Meskó & Dr. Pranavsingh Dhunnoo
The post The Digital Evolution Of The Stethoscope appeared first on The Medical Futurist.
