7 The 100 Most Influential Inventors of All Time 7Europe came to Paris to learn about Laënnec’s diagnostic
tool. He became an internationally renowned lecturer. In
1822 Laënnec was appointed chair and professor of med-
icine at the College of France, and the following year he
became a full member of the French Academy of Medicine
and a professor at the medical clinic of the Charity Hospital
in Paris. In 1824 he was made a chevalier of the Legion of
Honour. That same year Laënnec married Jacquette
Guichard, a widow. They did not have any children, his
wife having suffered a miscarriage. Two years later at the age
of 45 Laënnec died from cavitating tuberculosis—the
same disease that he helped elucidate using his stetho-
scope. Using his own invention, he could diagnose himself
and understand that he was dying.
Because Laënnec’s stethoscope enabled heart and lung
sounds to be heard without placing an ear on the patient’s
chest, the stethoscope technique became known as the
“mediate” method for auscultation. Throughout Laënnec’s
medical work and research, his diagnoses were supported
with observations and findings from autopsies. In addition
to revolutionizing the diagnosis of lung disorders, Laënnec
introduced many terms still used today. For example,
Laënnec’s cirrhosis, used to describe micronodular cirrhosis
(growth of small masses of tissue in the liver that cause
degeneration of liver function), and melanose (Greek,
meaning “black”), which he coined in 1804 to describe
melanoma. Laënnec was the first to recognize that melan-
otic lesions were the result of metastatic melanoma, in
which cancer cells from the original tumour site spread to
other organs and tissues in the body. He is considered the
father of clinical auscultation, and he wrote the first
descriptions of pneumonia, bronchiectasis, pleurisy,
emphysema, and pneumothorax. His classification of
pulmonary conditions is still used today.