Tuning forks in the medical profession?

[Terry Neely]

My father in law war an orthopedic surgeon. He used a tuning fork like you
described to test the integrity of a bone repair in the operating room. If
the repair was tight, it would transmit sound.



Robert Goodale wrote:

> Being a university tech I sometimes wonder down to the union for lunch.
>  Today I took a detour and browsed the book store for a moment.  Having
> a large medical program the book store stocks an inventory of supplies
> for med students labs and classes.  In the display were stethoscopes,
> forceps, kits for student nurses, sphygmomanometers, and so on.  Along
> with this were tuning forks!  Huge ones, (very low frequency), with
> sliding adjustable weights on the tines to adjust the pitch. There were
> two different sizes and the label proudly announced them as "highly
> accurate for the medical profession".
>
> I would find it hard to believe that these are used for testing hearing
> since the objective of a university it to teach techniques using current
> and modern equipment.  So what would one use a tuning fork for if one
> were studying modern medicine?  Perhaps to scan a patient's credit for
> paying the bill?
>
> Rob Goodale, RPT
> Las Vegas, NV