Comment by projektfu
17 hours ago
There are cheap, generic scopes (Sprague-Rappaport types) that are very sensitive but the double tube also causes a lot of noise. There are knock-offs of the Littmann scopes in the market. Then there are the scopes doctors usually buy, which are Littmann, Harvey (made by Welch-Allyn) and Heine, and a few smaller makers. No marketer of a high-quality scope wants to sell it at a $30 or less price point, and if you're going to go higher, might as well place it in the same market as the Littmann ($115+). I'll be honest, for emergency medicine use, the Littmann lightweight scope is good enough and cost about $45 when I bought it. But if I actually want to hear the subtleties in a chest, I'll use my personal scope (a Littmann Cardiology IV). Why choose this one? I already know it and they are very consistent. It doesn't feel cold to the patient and it has the right level of sensitivity without much noise. It is a little heavy. If a dog is bucking around, it can go flying and hurt if it hits someone.
This part stood out to me. Do they use a special material? This sounds interesting.
How long do they last? Looks like pretty solid piece of equipment, but are they damaged easily or simply clap out after few years?
I have a littmann cardiology 3 I bought in 2010 and the diaphragms wore out in 2019. By that time, they stopped selling official kits for the 3, so I repaired it with an off brand kit and was given a 4 for Christmas. The off brand diaphragm lasted only a couple years. My colleague has had the rubber tubing wear out. They say if you wear a collared shirt it lasts forever hanging on your neck but if it sits on your skin it wears out, and she always wears scrubs.
I still use one I got in 1994. Replaced the earpieces and diaphragm a few times, but the chestpiece and tubing are original
That's like a little over $3/yr. Can't complain
> How long do they last? Looks like pretty solid piece of equipment, but are they damaged easily or simply clap out after few years?
They last forever. Why would they break? This is like asking how long floor speakers last.
Speakers sometimes die while sitting unused in their original shipping carton in a dry, climate-controlled room.
The adhesives can age. Foam surrounds can disintegrate. (Ask a Bose 901 owner about foam rot.)
They also can also die from use, and abuse. And finger-poking. And environmental conditions like moisture and UV light.
I know enough enough about old speakers to know that lasting forever isn't one of their usual traits.
Are stethoscopes really as bad as that?
My first stephoscope lasted about 10 years until the tubing became brittle and started cracking. It's the oil on your skin that does it apparently. It went through a couple diaphragms and I lost an ear piece but used a replacement one.
As other commenters pointed out, rubber/plastics fail.
Littmann sells repair kits.
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Stereotypical image of the doctor is that they carry them over their neck 24/7, so that alone would destroy them pretty quickly.