Jacques Arsene d'Arsonval: His Life and Contributions to Electrical Instrumentation in Physics and Medicine. Part II: Communications Equipment and Electrical Measuring Instruments

In 1877, d'Arsonval examined the possibilities for using the recently invented telephone in his studies on the electrical properties of muscle contraction. The telephone seemed at first to be a mere improvement on the telegraph, until alternative uses, including those intended to improve health, well-being, safety, or security, were discovered. Physicians were among the first to employ telephones as conversational instruments, but they also thought about the potential of these instruments to be used in medical practice as diagnostic tools. However, when applying it to the chest of a healthy person, no sounds-whether of breathing, voice, or cough-could be heard; it was clear that sounds could be heard just as well, or better, through the stethoscope [1]. © 1963-2012 IEEE.