What was invented by the French physician Rene Laennec?

Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec (1781-1826) was a French physician who, in 1816, invented the Stethoscope. Using this new instrument, he investigated the sounds made by the heart and lungs and determined his diagnoses. Laennec is considered the father of clinical auscultation. He wrote the first descriptions of bronchiectasis and cirrhosis. Auscultation is performed for the purposes of examining the circulatory and respiratory systems, as well as the gastrointestinal system. He classified pulmonary conditions such as pneumonia, bronchiectasis, pleurisy, emphysema, pneumothorax, phthisis and other lung diseases from the sounds he heard with his invention. Laennec introduced many clinical terms still used today: Mediate auscultation, Tuberculosis, Laennec's Cirrhosis, Melanoma, Ventricular Systole, Astrial Systole. Laennec was born at Quimper in Brittany, France on February 17,1 781.