The Glia Stethoscope
The Glia Stethoscope is a lightweight, low-cost device for medical professionals used for the same purposes as traditional stethoscopes.
Design: The Glia Stethoscope sets a new low bar in price without lowering the bar in quality. Developed from a design similar to the market gold-standard Littmann Cardiology III. The majority of design includes 3D printed components, making it an easy-to-replace and lightweight option well suited for low resource settings.
Components: The stethoscope features both 3D printed and off-the-shelf components. The stethoscope head, ear tubes, y-piece, ring, and spring are printed using PETG filament. Other parts include; standard ear buds, Silicone tubing and the diaphragm, which is cut from PVC sheet material.
Cleaning: The Glia stethoscope can be disassembled and reassembled for proper decontamination using the following procedure:
- What you’ll need: Nitrile or vinyl gloves, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), a container and bleach (6.25% sodium hypochlorite).
- Make a bleach solution: Pour 100ml of bleach with 900ml of warm water into a container.
- *Disassemble stethoscope. Disinfect by submerging pieces in the warm bleach solution for 1 minute.
- After 1 minute, rinse thoroughly with fresh warm water.
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Lay flat to dry in clean area.
*A detailed instructional video for assistance with assembly/disassembly of the Glia stethoscope can be found here.
Manufacturing: The Glia Stethoscope is manufactured in Canada, in facility that holds a Class I Medical Device Establishment License (MDEL).
Warranty: Glia will offer a 1 year warranty on this stethoscope except for problems associated with regular wear and tear or harsh use. (Ear buds not included in warranty)
Research: https://glia.org/stethoscope/
Replacement parts are available. Please e-mail: store@glia.org