E-Scope Electronic Stethoscope for use with BTE (behind-the-ear) type hearing aids.
Note of Importance to BTE users.
1. Not all hearing aids will allow the low frequencies of heart and breath sounds to be heard. Heart sounds frequencies range from 20-650Hz and lung sounds from 70-2000Hz. The first and second heart sounds have a frequency of approximately 70-120Hz. Murmurs range from approximately 150-400Hz. Your hearing aid MUST be able to not only hear frequencies in the 100Hz area, but be able to reproduce them. You should discuss this with your audiologist prior to purchasing hearing aid. Cardionics maintains a list of hearing aids that have low frequency characteristics. Drop us an email and we will be happy to send it to you.
2. In general, BTE hearing aids will attenuate and in some cases distort low frequency heart and Korotkoff (BP) sounds. If you have the option of wearing a hearing aid that has an "open fit" and if your low frequency hearing is adequate, we recommend you consider using the E-Scope with headphones, cat. no. 718-7710 or use an ear mold with a vent that can be opened. This set up will by-pass the hearing aid entirely, but allow you to hear heart sounds without attenuation or distortion.
If you wear a BTE (behind-the-ear) type hearing aid, there are three methods that can be used with the E-Scope to allow you to hear heart and breath sounds, Korotkoff and bowel sounds.
Method #1. The best method is the use of an ear mold with a large vent. This method bypasses the hearing aid entirely and uses the E-Scope Electronic Stethoscope (cat. no. 718-7710) for amplification. Most hearing aids do not have low enough frequency characteristics to faithfully reproduce heart sounds and the speakers are about the size of a pin head. Low frequency sounds can be distorted and attenutated by many hearing aids. Consult your audiologist for the most appropriate hearing aid.
Most hearing loss is in higher frequencies so the ear mold works well in many cases. To use this method, order E-Scope, cat. no. 718-7710 as shown below. Open the vent on the ear mold and use the external headphone to hear heart and breath sounds. Order the ear molds from Westone, telephone: 800- 525-5071.
Method #1. Use E-Scope Electronic Stethoscope cat. no. 718-7712, as shown below.
E-Scope Electronic Stethoscope, cat. no. 718-7710
Method #2. Use E-Scope Electronic Stethoscope cat. no. 718-7712 as shown below with a silhouette cord (sometimes called an induction coil). The Silhouette is generally more powerful than a direct audio input. For the Silhouette, use cat. no. 711-7133 for one BTE or cat. no. 711-7135 for bilateral BTE hearing aids. Turn the BTE hearing aid to the “Telecoil” position when using the silhouette with the E-Scope. This method should be used only upon the approval of your audiologist.
Single silhouette cord, cat. no. 711-7133 with E-Scope, cat. no. 718-7712
Method #3. Connect the E-Scope to a DAI cable as shown below. This method should be used only upon recommendation of your audiologist.
E-Scope connected to a BTE hearing aid with DAI cable
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