A hybrid stethoscope which enables a physician who places the bell of the instrument on a body site in order to hear sounds emanating from an underlying internal region, to concurrently see an analog waveform of these sounds. The combined visual and aural impressions produced thereby facilitate an analysis of the sounds and a diagnosis of the disorder giving rise thereto. Attached to the bell so that it is viewable by the physician handling the bell is a self-sufficient visual display module provided with a transducer that picks up sounds received by the bell to yield an audio signal that is fed to an LCD display on whose screen is exhibited the analog waveform of the sounds. Thus a physician hears sounds emanating from an internal body region within the ambit of the bell and at the same time effectively sees these sounds and thereby gains greater insight into the is character of the sounds and their medical significance.
Hybrid structure