Stethoscope

Claim 1

A combination acoustic and electronic stethoscope comprising a chestpiece having an acoustical transducer for picking up body sounds, a passageway coupling said acoustical transducer to a flexible conduit connected to said chestpiece at one end thereof and being bifurcated at the other end thereof, a pair of earpieces connected to said bifurcated conduit to transmit body sounds picked up by said acoustical transducer for listening by a physician, an electronic amplifier for sound amplification and frequency selection, a speaker located at the bifurcation of said conduit and connected to the output of said electronic amplifier, said chestpiece further including an acousto-electronic transducer connected to the input of said electronic amplifier, a power supply interconnected to said electronic amplifier, means for actuating said electronic amplifier to amplify body sounds picked up by said acousto-electronic transducer, said actuating means simultaneously uncoupling said acoustical transducer from said flexible conduit and isolating said acousto-electronic transducer from the output of said speaker, a volume control and a frequency selector operatively connected to said electronic amplifier, said volume control and frequency selector being operative only when said electronic amplifier is actuated to thereby transmit the amplified body sounds through said speaker and earpieces for listening by a physician, said stethoscope being similar in appearance and size to a conventional acoustic stethoscope and being capable of one-hand operation in either an acoustic mode or an electronic mode.