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Procedures and Techniques - Diagnostics
One of the keys to the success of modern medicine is the variety of devices that give consistent and objective readings of the patient's symptoms. The collection documents the evolution of devices developed to assist the physician in determining illness, ranging from external monitoring devices to equipment designed to look inside the human body. Diagnostic objects comprise approximately 14 percent of the collection.
HC 1
- Diagnosis, Cardiovascular, 1820-present
- Approximately 335 items.
- Efforts to evaluate cardiovascular health has resulted in some of the most significant developments in the history of medical technology. The collection documents the development of these important technologies. In addition to over 200 stethoscopes, the collection includes 90 sphygmomanometers and 20 electrocardiographs, including two string galvanometers. Included in the collection are a small number of sphygmographs, the first device to take a reading and transcribe it onto a chart.
HC 2
- Diagnosis, Eye, 1850-present
- Approximately 400 items.
- Includes a wide range of artifacts documenting ophthalmological diagnosis. A majority of the collection consists of 300 ophthalmoscopes, include several used by William Wilmer. Other vision tests are represented by 3 perimeters, 3 corneal microscopes, 20 tonometers, 2 ophthalmological stands, and 20 refractometers. Includes objects which belonged to optometrist Robert Martin.
HC 3
- Diagnosis, Laboratory, 1880-present
- Approximately 270 items.
- Instruments and glassware used to collect and analyze blood and urine.
HC 4
- Diagnosis, Neurologic, 1840-present
- Approximately 90 items.
- Consists primarily of pleximeters and other devices to test reflexes and sensory perception.
HC 5
- Diagnostic Imaging, 1900-present
- Approximately 128 items.
- Includes a wide range of machines ranging from a 1916 vintage fluoroscope to a Korean War-era field x-ray machine. The collection also includes a number of x-ray tubes beginning with a Crooke's x-ray tube, circa 1895, to an x-ray tube from a 1940 General Electric KX-11. Later advances in the field are documented by a NIRRA Sonograf EDP-1000 ultrasound machine, made in 1978, a Labsonics Ultrasound Mammography device, circa 1980, and an Intermagnetics General Superconducting Magnet, an early nuclear magnetic resonance imaging machine. Includes objects which belonged to dermatologist Naomi Kanof and allergist Irving Feur.
HC 6
- Electrodiagnosis, 1945-present
- Approximately 10 items.
- This small but growing collection of electromyography instruments is being collected with the assistance of the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine. Highlights of the collection include the first electromyograph machine made by James Golseth in 1945, the first production electromyograph in 1947, and the first ring electrodes made by Edward Lambert in the early 1950s.
HC 7
- Endoscopy, 1890-1970
- Approximately 170 items.
- Includes some of the earliest devices developed to look inside the human body, such as Desmoureaux's esophagoscope, Dr. Otis's endoscopic tube, and the Wales endoscope. Later designs, made practical by improvements in electric lights, such as the Nitze's cystoscope and fiberoptic cables, are well represented by the collection. Also includes the family of laryngoscopes, bronchoscopes, and esphogascopes developed and used by Chevalier Jackson.
HC 8
- Physical Examination, 1865-present
- Approximately 200 items.
- Documents the evolution of such devices as 31 otoscopes and over 10 illuminators, familiar to anyone who has undergone a physical by a health care provider. The history of taking a patient's temperature is documented by over 80 thermometers.
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