Is The Stethoscope Dying? High-Tech Rivals Pose A Threat

Two centuries after its invention, the stethoscope — the very symbol of the medical profession — is facing an uncertain prognosis.

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It is threatened by hand-held devices that are also pressed against the chest but relies on ultrasound technology, artificial intelligence and smartphone apps instead of doctors’ ears to help detect leaks, murmurs, abnormal rhythms and other problems in the heart, lungs and elsewhere. Some of these instruments can yield images of the beating heart or create electrocardiogram graphs.

Dr. Eric Topol, a world-renowned cardiologist, considers the stethoscope obsolete, nothing more than a pair of “rubber tubes.”

It “was OK for 200 years,” Topol said. But “we need to go beyond that. We can do better.”

In a longstanding tradition, nearly every U.S. medical school presents incoming students with a white coat and stethoscope to launch their careers. It’s more than symbolic — stethoscope skills are still taught, and proficiency is required for doctors to get their licenses.

Over the last decade, though, the tech industry has downsized ultrasound scanners into devices resembling TV remotes. It has also created digital stethoscopes that can be paired with smartphones to create moving pictures and readouts.

Proponents say these devices are nearly as easy to use as stethoscopes and allow doctors to watch the body in motion and actually see things such as leaky valves. “There’s no reason you would listen to sounds when you can see everything,” Topol said.

At many medical schools, it’s the newer devices that really get students’ hearts pumping.