Every week I receive at least one phone call from a fellow audiologist asking for an amplified stethoscope solution for a patient who is a medical professional and current hearing instrument wearer. I can’t tell you how often I get a phone call from the actual medical professional who is looking for an amplified stethoscope solution that would work with his or her hearing aids. Unfortunately, unless the user is willing to remove their hearing instruments and use an amplified stethoscope in the traditional way, there isn’t one end-all, be-all magic solution. Here is a summary of a post from 2013 that lists potential solutions for consideration, keeping in mind that it is best to have at least a couple potential solutions available to see if something works:
FOR RIC or OPEN-FIT BTE WEARERS:
1. Try a traditional amplified stethoscope (i.e. 3M Littmann, E-Scope II with traditional earpieces, Adscope, or Thinklabs DS32A) with the user leaving hearing instruments in the ears.
2. Try the modified E-Scope II with standard (model #718-7710) and/or oversized headphones (model #718-7715).
3. In the presence of a streamer, another option is the E-Scope II with headphones (model #718-7710) with an E-Scope patch cord (item #711-7129) to hardwire it to the streamer.
FOR CUSTOM HEARING INSTRUMENT WEARERS:
1. Replace traditional stethoscope earpieces with special adapters called stethomate tips; success rate is very low but may work.
2. Have special earmolds designed to serve as an interface between the custom hearing instrument and the stethoscope earpieces.
3. Invest in the modified version of the E-Scope II amplified stethoscope with headphones (model #718-7710).
Couple of key things to keep in mind:
NOTE: in either situation, re-programming of the hearing instrument by the audiologist will be necessary.
NOTE: if none of the above suggestions work, the only other option is to remove hearing instruments and to use a stand-alone amplified stethoscope during auscultation procedures.
NOTE: The Audiologist’s Choice Bluetooth Amplified Stethoscope (AC-Scope) has been removed from the market due to signal transmission issues
For more in-depth information on the above recommendations, see the original post Amplified Stethoscopes & Hearing Instruments – Current Solutions from July 2013.
I am a Volunteer Paramedic and Full time Rad Tech. I suffered an acute right ear hearing loss last year. Serial assessments and tests have not indicated an organic or trauma induced etiology. Currently, I will be getting a BTE hearing aid in a few weeks, and have been researching stethoscope options. My choices have narrowed down to an over the ear head phones with either a Thinklabs 1 or the E scope configuration. Have you had an opportunity to review these items as to effectiveness. They are a bit pricy, but these are the only ones that will enable me to place them over my hearing aid that I could locate.
Joe Mays
Hi Joe:
Both are great stethoscopes although I have seen more positive feedback from our audiology customers with the TL-One. Depending on the BTE model (open fit? earmold?), it would still be a good option. If you pursue hearing instruments with a streamer, the nice thing is the TL-One includes the necessary accessories to hard wire it to the streamer. It also comes with what is called a ThinkLink interface, something that you can use to record ausculation with an iPhone or Android or iPad….that comes in handy particularly if there is a learning curve to re-learn hearing heart or lung sounds via hearing aids. Keep in mind, hearing aids only amplify as low as 100 or 200 Hz and I know there is lower frequency information that you may be missing and it is a matter of tweaking the hearing aid program and working on learning what to listen for that comes into play. I do wish you luck and hope you keep me posted with your progress.
it is now well into 2015. what is the status of blue tooth linked stethoscopes? My hearing aids (Resound) link to my iPhone nicely, but would like to have a stethoscope that does not require me to remove my aids. your advice is appreciated.
Hi Karol:
The status is not very different from the last time you checked although I would suggest the TL-One as a potential solution that MAY work via the Garage Band app on an iPhone. The TL-One still requires a wired connection with a Bluetooth transmitter that can send info to the iPhone and, in turn, the iPhone streams to the hearing instrument assuming the hearing instrument is a Resound instrument as that is the only Made-for-iPhone instrument that I can confirm this configuration works with; I have not received any feedback regarding the Starkey Halo.
Other than that, there is NO bluetooth amplified stethoscopes available on the market; the only option is to try various wired configurations with some streaming capabilities via the TL-One and perhaps the E-Scope II.