Auscultation: more heart sounds

'Tis the season: more heart sounds.

My latest favorite, since I find the HeartSounds software that came with our book to be pretty irritating to navigate, and non-productive in that you have to hold down the mouse button for as long as you want to hear a sound, is the American College of Cardiology's Heart Songs. Though the CD costs $50-100 (which I'm going to ask the library if they'll purchase), they have a few sample MP3s, each of which are 7-9 minutes long, with lots of explanation, lengthy sound segments, and most importantly, repetition. The quiz that's available on that page is high quality, and though it delays feedback until the end and you can't go back to listen to the ones you missed, the quizzes increase in complexity and thus fit my favorite criteria for learning tools in that they are scaffolded.

Other favorite tutorials/quizzes remain the Cardiology Site and Blaufuss's Heart Sounds Tutorial and Quiz.

We can also finally settle the debate over the 3M tunable bell/diaphragms:

Bell Mode (low-frequency)
For low-frequency sounds, light contact is used on the chestpiece. The diaphragm membrane is contained by a flexible surround that actually suspends it, allowing the membrane to resonate low-frequency sounds.

Diaphragm Mode (high-frequency)
For high-frequency sounds, firm contact pressure is used on the chestpiece. By pressing on the chestpiece, the diaphragm membrane moves inward until it reaches an internal ring. The ring simply restricts the diaphragm membrane's movement. It blocks, or attenuates, low-frequency sound and allows you to hear the higher frequency sounds.


I've been wrong along! Good to know. I still <3 my Littman Cardiology III.