Laennec named his invention the stethoscope, from the Greek words for “chest” and “to view,”
雷奈克将这一发明命名为听诊器,该词取自希腊语中的“胸部”及“观察”二词,
because it opened a new window into what was happening in the heart and lungs.
因为这一发明为心肺诊断技术开辟了一条新捷径。
After experimenting with different materials, Laennec decided that wood cylinders conducted sound best.
在对不同材料进行对比后,雷奈克发现木质圆筒的听诊效果最为理想。
He spent the rest of his life interpreting heart and lung sounds, conducting autopsies when possible to confirm the diagnoses he’d made by sound.
他的余生都在研究心肺听诊,尽可能会通过尸检验证之前通过听诊确定的诊断。
Although the stethoscope revolutionized Western medicine, it met with great resistance at first.
虽然听诊器完全改变了西医的诊断方法,但在最初推广时也受到了很大的阻力。
In the 1820s, many physicians felt that listening through the cylinder would be too time consuming, inconvenient, and well, even silly!
19世纪20年代,许多医生认为通过圆筒听诊既耗时又麻烦,甚至看起来很愚蠢!
But soon the value of Laennec’s modest invention became clear.
不久,雷奈克这项发明的价值逐渐显现出来。
And today, the stethoscope is a nearly universal symbol of medicine and health care.
如今,听诊器已经成为医学和医疗保健的普遍象征。