MDF ProCardial ER Premier Cardiology Stainless Steel Dual

I loved this stethoscope while using it in medical school. Not using it anymore because you don’t really need one in pathology. The sound quality was great and I was able to pick up a lot more than I could with my flimsy school provided stethoscope. Only complaint with this is that one day after 1.5 years of use the ear piece snapped off while transporting it in my messenger bag.

I couldn’t ask for a better piece of equipment that fits my needs in the medical field. Thank you and I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a stethoscope. ..

Pros: can hear everything. Good auscultation of heart and lung sounds. Well made, fit and finish are great. Nice thick tubing, really protects against ambient sound.

Cons: heavy, diaphragm isn’t really held on very well. The locking ring has a tendency to slip off while rattling around in a bag. MDF might be better served with fitting a slightly more elastic retaining ring.

I read a bunch of other reviews that complained that the tubing was inflexible, this is not my experience at all.

super Stethoskop, aber schon schwer (schwerer als Littmann Cardiology) ** bei MDF – alle gestestet und im Einsatz und fr gut befunden -> MD one MDF777, Cardiology MDF797, 747XP = Acoustica) und fr die Orte, wo man gerne eines verliert oder geklaut bekommt das 747 standard; die Unterschiede innerhalb der Serie Cardiology sind mir etwas zu obskur (797 CC, CCT, DD….) -> Trichter und Membran, wegen mir bei Kindenr zwei mal Membran, und gut ist’s…., aber egal – alle Stethoskope sind gut; der Ersatzteilservice klappt (lt. Kollegen), aber an sich braucht man das nicht, weil gleich Teile dabei sind; NB: wenn mal man ein gutes Littmann hat, nur Schluche will als Ersatz, und die originalen Teile 3/4 eines neuen Stethoskops von MDF kosten, was “gefhlt” nur 1/4 schlechter ist (die Membran von Littmann ist schon klasse, MDF einfacher – aber das mu jeder selbst beurteilen ob es diesen Mehrpreis wert ist fr Littmann), kann der Kauf eines kompletten MDF eine gute Wahl sei

Use this in a busy small animal veterinary practice. It works incredibly well. It’s very nice to be able to change diaphragm sizes as needed; we see patients of all different sizes, so isolating valve sounds is sometimes much easier (or even possible) with smaller diaphragms more appropriately matched to the cross-sectional area of the patients’ hearts.
The tubing is incredibly rigid and just seems to be of poor quality, so I put the chestpiece on the binaural from my old Littmann Cardio II (not SE!). I thought the rigidity would go away with time and use, but not so. It’s stuck in the shape of the box it arrived in. The diaphragms are really sealed down to the chestpiece, which is in contrast to the floating diaphragm that was on the Cardio II which just sort of shifted about half a millimeter when not in use. At first it seemed as though this limited the diaphragm’s ability to vibrate and limited the transmission of sound through the stethoscope, but as I became more familiar with the sounds, I began to adjust. I now hear everything as well as I had heard on the Cardio II; auscultation was less about the stethoscope’s abilities and more about my learning how this stethoscope normally sounded. I must say this for the infant-sized diaphragm – the floating diaphragm is absolutely better than this one. The diaphragm material is so fibrous and rigid and the diaphragm is being bent over such a small surface that it does indeed limit the transmission of sound as compared to my Littmann Classic Infant from 1987 (which has a small floating diaphragm). Auscultation can still be accomplished, but significantly more pressure is required with this stethoscope to place the diaphragm flat on the patient’s body, and most of my small patients have very flexible rib-cages, so the extra pressure may interfere with their ability to breathe normally. This probably isn’t as much of a problem in babies who have much smaller heart-to-weight ratios than ferrets and kittens, and who may have slightly less flexible ribs. I did, however, try out an MDF NEO stethoscope, and it’s amazing. I now use it in conjunction with the Procardial C3. For more information, see my review of the MDF NEO.
Each diaphragm or bell can only be attached to a specific side, so I am a little disappointed that the pediatric and infant diaphragms cannot be equipped at the same time. I use the bell function quite frequently, especially with the smaller patients, and I have no complaints about the bells.
All-in-all, this is a great stethoscope, and it is clearly designed with the more classic practice of cardiology in mind. I believe that it is worth marketing to veterinarians – especially veterinary cardiologists and exotic animal specialists – who could make great use of the stethoscope’s adaptability, but I would like to see some major improvements in the quality of the binaural first.

Crisp sound transmission, solid construction, and interchangeable parts useful for students/healthcare workers doing both adult and pediatric rotations. I purchased this because I was looking for a stethoscope that does NOT use a tunable diaphragm. Tunable diaphragms are under less tension and do not transmit sounds as clearly. I had a chance to compare this stethoscope to other popular Littman models that use tunable diaphragms, and on this one heart sounds are more distinct; not as “muddy” as with tunable diaphragms. Other designs with non-tunable diaphragms such as the Welch-Allyn Harvey are also clearer than stethoscopes with tunable diaphragms. I chose this one because the price and interchangeable parts made it good value to me. The modular design is a bonus to me, I wasn’t looking for it. But I am finding the modular design useful as a medical student; I made use of the pediatric-sized attachments on my pediatric rotations. Disadvantage: the modular design makes the chest piece heavier than other dedicated adult or pediatric scopes, but not enough to be a concern for me personally.

The stethoscope is equal to my Littman cardiology 3, which I have had for years and was very leary to change. I bought the MDF…C3 for the versatility of being an infant, peds, and adult stethoscope. It is as advertised except the heads of the stethoscope are not as easily changed out as I had thought. I thought each diaphram and bell asembly for each group( adult..infant) snapped in and out but you have to change each individual piece, the diaphram or the bell by screwing on or off the piece you want to change. I will keep it as I need the different stethoscopes and hope to meet the demands with this one.

I bought this stethoscope 3 months ago now and I’m very impressed. The initial impression is stunning in this all black color! I was looking purposely for an all black scope, partly to distinguish from most others, and partly because of visual preference. I previously had the Littmann Classic II in black, and that was a decent scope to begin with. My interest focused more on being able to assess lung sounds more accurately, and determining the subtle differences in murmurs, thus the need for a dual or bi-lumen scope. The sensitivity of the chest piece is higher, sounds are louder and clearer by 2-3 points on a scale of 1-10 compared to the Littmann being a 6-7 on clarity and volume. At first the MDF scope seemed less comfortable than my Littmann, but now I’ve gotten used to the stiffer ear cushion pieces, however they are comfortable none the less. This MDF stethoscope is significantly heavier than my Littman though, mainly due to the use of more material to construct it. It also feels more durable than other dual lumen scopes; I compared my scope to one of my coworker’s who has a Littmann Cardiology III, and her’s has already begun to lose its shine and luster by turning opaque and dry-like in texture. Both her Littman and my MDF stethoscopes were purchased within 4 months difference in time but in new condition, and my scope continues to shine like when purchased. One downside to my MDF scope is that you sometimes have to tilt your head to position your ears while auscultating; depending on your position in relation to the patient’s, you may have to ‘nod’ up or down to listen correctly. Final impression: well constructed, excellent acoustics, stealthy attractive appearance, all at an unbeatable price. It respectable alternative to a pricier Littmann or Harvey Tycos.