Senior Consultant in Respiratory Medicine and critical Care, KIMS Hospital, Kesavan Nair saidstethoscope had become 'sine qua non' of doctors, thanks to a French physician, Rene T H Laennec who invented it in 1816.
"Eventhough several new gadgets had been developed to help doctors listen to the sounds of the body, every physician will cherish memories of the stethoscope," he said.
Head of cardiology department, KIMS, G Vijayaraghavan said many heart ailments could be detected soon with the help of a stethoscope.