Stethoscope with Frictional Noise Reduction

• US 20080093157A1
• Filed: 12/21/2005
• Published: 04/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Original Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Inventors: Carim, Hatim, Drummond, Thomas, Oster, Craig
• Granted Patent: US 7,806,226 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 181/131
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0204 Acoustic sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 7/02 Stethoscopes acoustic details thereof G10K11/00

Abstract

A stethoscope is provided, comprising: a sound receiving member (12) for receiving sounds, the sound receiving member capable of transmitting sound received thereby; a head set coupled to the sound receiving member to receive sound transmitted by the sound receiving member; means for reducing frictional noise, said means associated with the sound receiving member to reduce noise caused by relative movement between a surface and the sound receiving member of the chestpiece in contact with the surface.

Claims

1. A stethoscope, comprising:

A sound receiving member for receiving sounds, the sound receiving member capable of transmitting sound received thereby;

A head set coupled to the sound receiving member to receive sound transmitted by the sound receiving member;

Means for reducing frictional noise, said means associated with the sound receiving member to reduce noise caused by relative movement between a surface and the sound receiving member of the chestpiece in contact with the surface.

2. The stethoscope as defined in claim 1 wherein the sound receiving member further comprises an outer surface, an inner cavity and an opening from the outer surface to the inner cavity, wherein sound passing through the opening enters the inner cavity and the means for reducing frictional noise is associated with the opening.

3. The stethoscope as defined in claim 2, the sound receiving member further comprising a diaphragm positioned over the opening, the diaphragm having a first major surface facing into the inner cavity and a second major surface facing away from the inner cavity, the diaphragm constructed to pass sound waves of a first frequency range into the inner cavity, and the means for reducing frictional noise is associated with the second major surface of the diaphragm.

4. The stethoscope as defined in claim 2 wherein said means for reducing frictional noise is also associated with the outer surface of the sound receiving member.

5. The stethoscope as defined in claim 1 wherein the means for reducing frictional noise is a membrane, sheet or film of material.

6. The stethoscope as defined in claim 5 wherein the membrane, sheet or film of material has a kinetic coefficient of friction of less than about 0.35 as measured according to ASTM D 1894.

7. The stethoscope as defined in claim 1 wherein the head set is coupled to the sound receiving member by tubing, and the means for reducing frictional noise is also associated with the tubing.

8. The stethoscope as defined in claim 1 wherein the head set is electronically coupled to the sound receiving member through tubing, and the means for reducing frictional noise is also associated with the tubing.

9. The stethoscope as defined in claim 8 wherein the sound receiving member comprises a transducer, and wherein the head set is electronically coupled to the transducer, the sound receiving member further comprising a housing to retain the transducer therein, the housing having an outer surface and means for reducing frictional noise is also associated with the outer surface of the housing.

10. The stethoscope of claim 5, wherein the membrane, sheet or film material is selected from the group consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene (“

PTFE”

), polyurethane, polyethylene, parylene, polyester, polypropylene, other polymeric materials, fabrics, metals and combinations of two or more of the foregoing.