Shure 66A User Guide

DATA SHEET

DATE:

May 1937

No.

162

SUBJECT:

MODEL 66A PIEZOELECTRIC STETHOPHONE

GENERAL :

zoelectric crystal converts the vibrations trans­mitted through the flesh into corresponding
electrical impulses for amplified reproduction
or recording. The instrument responds with uni­form efficiency to the entire frequency range
covered by heart sounds, murmurs, rales, etc.

Model 66A replaces the earlier Model 65A Stetho-

phone.

The new Stethophone is highly sensitive to
the vibrations produced by body sounds but is
extremely insensitive to air-borne or acoustic

sounds. It is therefore possible to use the in­strument in close proximity to loud speakers

without acoustic feed back, and to successfully

amplify extremely faint body sounds in the
presence of external noises. This has not been
possible heretofore with electrical Stethoscope
devices which acoustically pickup body sounds
from an air chamber.

In operation the Stethophone is simply ap-

plied to the body with moderate pressure in
much the same way&the conventional Stethoscope
would be used. A suitable high gain amplifier
and reproducing or recording equipment must be

supplied by the purchaser.

APPLICATIONS :

ment has extended to fields which are far beyond
the possibilities of the ordinary Stethoscope.
Heart and chest sounds can be observed with much
greater clearness then with a Stethoscope.
tremely faint noises can be heard clearly with
the Stethophone which would be difficult or im­possible to detect with the ordinary Stethoscope.

A 66A Stethophone, in conjunction with a

suitable amplifier with one or more sets of

headphones, constitutes the simplest complete
equipment for auscultation. The sounds can be
heard by several persons simultsneously by simply
providing a
This feature is particularly useful In teaching
auscultation to medical students,

By feeding the output of the amplifier to
one or more suitable loud speakers, body sounds
can be demonstrated to a large group without the
necessity for individual headphones. If de­sired, the demonstration can be made at a point
remote from the patient.

The Stethophone can be strapped to the
chest of a surgical patient during an operation
and the condition of the patient’s heart can be
observed continuously throughout the course of
the operation. The observation may be made at a
distance from the patient by suitably extending
the connecting cord thus causing a minimum of
interference with those actually engaged in the

surgery.

© SHURE BROTHERS

Model 66A Stethophone is primari-

ly designed for pickup of heart­beats and chest sounds. A pie-

The usefulness of the Stethophone

in conjunction with the proper

amplifying and reproducing equip-

Ex-

Auscultation

sufficient number of headphones.

Clinical Demonstrations

Surgery

By means of a cathode ray oscillograph or

other suitable device, the electrical wave forms
which correspond to the body sounds may be ob­served visually. In this way it may be possible
to observe abnormalities which might not be ap­parent from auscultation.

By means of a suitable recorder, recording
galvanometer, or oscillograph, permanent records
of heart sounds can be made which are analogous
to the well known electrocardiograph records.

With the aid of the Stethophone, recordings
can be made of heart and body sounds by any of
the well-known sound recording methods. "In­stantaneous" phonograph discs are especially
convenient for this purpose. Such sound records
offer convenient means for demonstrating abnor-

mal heart sounds to students.

Many other applications of the Stethophone
will undoubtedly occur to those in the medical
profession.

CONNECTIONS:

indicating and recording devices are shown in
Fig. A. Many other arrangements are of course
possible.

The Stethophone should be connected to the
grid circuit of the first tube across a resis­tance of 5 megohms, as shown in Fig. B.

The output level of the Stethophone depends
upon individual conditions but good results
should be obtained with high-gain amplifiers de­signed for crystal microphone operation.

A 7-foot cable is supplied attached to the
Model 66A. If necessary, added cable may be at­tached for extension purposes to a maximum of 25
feet total length. High quality, low-capacity
cable should be used. It is essential that the
leakage resistance of the cable be high so that
It will not appreciably reduce the effective
shunt resistance across the Stethophone. Heart­beat sounds are of relatively low frequency and
leakage resistance will reduce the low frequency
response.

When splicing in extra lengths of cable,

the respective coded conductors should be sol-

(OVER)

Model 66A Piezoelectric
Stethophone

Visual Observation

Graphic Records

Sound Recording

Suggested block diagrams of the
66A Stethophone, associated am­plifier and various reproducing,

PRINTED IN U.S.A.

No.

162

DATA SHEET

dered together and carefully insulated with a good
grade of rubber tape. A wrap of fine wire or a
piece of metal braid sleeving soldered to the
shield of the cables should be used to cover the
joint of the cable to complete the shielding.
Connector fittings are suitable for jointing
cables if they provide complete metallic shield-

ing of the conductor.

OPERATION:

to come in contact with hard, sharp objects. It
should not be operated at temperatures exceeding

Voltage Sensitivity:

Recommended Load

Impedance:

Although the crystal unit of the
Stethophone is not extremely del-

icate, it should not be allowed

SPECIFICATIONS

The output level depends
upon individual conditions.
The output voltage for an
average heartbeat is of
the order of 5 to 10 mil­livolts r.m.s.

5 megohms

MODEL 66A

(See Fig. C)

125° F. or permanent damage to the crystal may
result.

FREQUENCY
RESPONSE :

Stethophone has been designed to reproduce these

sounds faithfully and accurately. The response
to frequencies above 1,500 cycles is low, thus
lessening pickup of undesirable high-frequency

sounds. The response is down 10 db at 2000

cycles and down 25 db at 8000 cycles. By suit-

able design of the amplifier, the transmitted

frequency range may be adjusted to accentuate
either normal heart sounds, or murmurs, in any

desired manner.

Heart and chest sounds are made
up of frequencies below approxi-

mately 1,500 cycles and the 66A

Diameter. . . . . . . .

Thickness . . . . . . .

Finish. . . . . . . . . Chrome Plated

Net Weight (less cord).

Shipping Weight . . . .

Code Word . . . . . . .

List Price. . . . . . .

Guarantee:

one year from date of shipment from the factory,
provided all instructions are complied with
fully.

License

Notice:

Every Shure Stethophone is guaran­teed to be free from electrical and
mechanical defects for a period of

Shure Crystal Devices are licensed
under patents of the Brush Develop-

ment Company. Shure patents pending.

1-5/16"

15/16"

3 oz.

3/4 lbs.

RUTAL

$35.00