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Auscultation listens to sounds generated within the body, commonly with a stethoscope. Cardiac and respiratory activity produce different acoustic patterns that can supply information about timing and flow. Unlike percussion, the examiner usually listens to sounds generated by the body rather than producing the initial sound by tapping. The observation and the inference about its cause are separate steps in clinical diagnosis. ^[ref]

Clinical percussion produces vibrations by tapping the body surface and evaluates the resulting sound or movement. The response depends partly on the material and boundaries beneath the surface: air-rich, fluid-filled and solid regions can transmit different acoustic patterns. Percussion is therefore an indirect physical measurement used alongside other observations. A sound difference alone does not uniquely identify the underlying disease. ^[ref]