Artificial Breathing Aids
Artificial Breathing Aids - Iron Lung
The Iron lung was invented in 1929 by Professor Phillip Drinker (1893-1977). The device performs the function of the muscles that control breathing. It was one of the first of several inventions designed to keep people alive who are unable to breathe unassisted.
Pulmonators
During the 1920s people who could not breathe on their own were aided by a pulmotor. This was a machine similar to fireplace bellows. It inflated and deflated the lungs by forcing air in and then sucking it back out again. The process worked, but some patients experienced chest pain. Many people suffering from polio or infantile paralysis required such a device. The polio virus can damage the nervous system causing paralysis of the diaphragm. Without the movement of the diaphragm, polio-sufferers often died by suffocation.
Drinker's Research
Drinker got his idea from a Swedish physician named Thunberg, who had been experimenting with a vacuum device to help patients breathe. Drinker enlisted the help of his brother, Cecil, and Louis Shaw (1886-1940) to build a prototype (model) based on Thunberg's principles. He tested the first machine on cats and then designed one large enough for a human patient.
The patient's head was positioned outside the box while the rest of the body was enclosed in the airtight metal box. A pump connected to the box varied the air pressure inside the chamber. When the air pressure inside the box decreased, the weight of the atmosphere outside the box forced air through the nose and mouth into the lungs. When the air pressure in the box increased, the air was forced out of the lungs.
Drinker's invention was first known as the "Drinker tank respirator" but was soon given the nickname of "iron lung." Drinker and Louis Shaw received numerous awards for their invention. The iron lung allowed many polio patients to live longer lives. It was used from 1928 well into the 1950s.
Ventilators
Since Drinker's time, a
The Iron lung was invented in 1929 by Professor Phillip Drinker (1893-1977). The device performs the function of the muscles that control breathing. It was one of the first of several inventions designed to keep people alive who are unable to breathe unassisted.
Pulmonators
During the 1920s people who could not breathe on their own were aided by a pulmotor. This was a machine similar to fireplace bellows. It inflated and deflated the lungs by forcing air in and then sucking it back out again. The process worked, but some patients experienced chest pain. Many people suffering from polio or infantile paralysis required such a device. The polio virus can damage the nervous system causing paralysis of the diaphragm. Without the movement of the diaphragm, polio-sufferers often died by suffocation.
Drinker's Research
Drinker got his idea from a Swedish physician named Thunberg, who had been experimenting with a vacuum device to help patients breathe. Drinker enlisted the help of his brother, Cecil, and Louis Shaw (1886-1940) to build a prototype (model) based on Thunberg's principles. He tested the first machine on cats and then designed one large enough for a human patient.
The patient's head was positioned outside the box while the rest of the body was enclosed in the airtight metal box. A pump connected to the box varied the air pressure inside the chamber. When the air pressure inside the box decreased, the weight of the atmosphere outside the box forced air through the nose and mouth into the lungs. When the air pressure in the box increased, the air was forced out of the lungs.
Drinker's invention was first known as the "Drinker tank respirator" but was soon given the nickname of "iron lung." Drinker and Louis Shaw received numerous awards for their invention. The iron lung allowed many polio patients to live longer lives. It was used from 1928 well into the 1950s.
Ventilators
Since Drinker's time, a