HC 21

• Drainage, 1850-present
• Approximately 65 items.
• Documents the efforts at removing bodily fluids from the patient by either using a suction tube during surgery or using a trocar and cannula to drain fluid after surgery. Artifacts range from 19th century trocars and cannulae and 20th century Yankauer suction tubes.

HC 22

• Electrosurgery, 1900-present
• Approximately 50 items.
• Documents the use of electricity to cut and cauterize tissue. Artifacts range from early 20th century electrodes to mid-20th century hyfecators to modern day disposable surgical electrodes.

HC 23

• Extracorporeal Circulation, 1960
• 1 item.
• An example of the Gibbon-Mayo pump oxygenator, the first heart lung-machine, is included in the collection.

HC 24

• Hemostasis, Surgical, 1800-present
• Approximately 30 items
• Included are a variety of 19th century tourniquets used for amputations and modern latex rubber tourniquets used for drawing blood.

HC 25

• Ligation, 1880-present
• Approximately 150 items.
• Traces the development of surgical closures from silk suture to catgut to surgical staples.

HC 26

• Neurosurgery, 1800-present
• Approximately 50 items.
• Consists primarily of trephination instruments, the earliest being a ca. 1820 kit manufactured by P. Browne of New York, one of the first manufacturers of surgical instruments in the United States. Also included are skull casts of Incas who had undergone trephination and models of the skulls of the Binder Twins, made from a CAT scan shortly after they were separated in 1987.

HC 27

• Orthopedics, 1770s-present
• Approximately 420 items.
• Since the Museum was founded by the U.S. Army, the collection is rich with artifacts documenting the history orthopedic surgery. Instruments documenting the history of amputation range from Revolutionary War-era amputation knives belonging to Dr. Benjamin Treadwell, to Civil War-era surgical kits, to 20th century stainless steel amputation saws. There are items which belonged to Civil War Surgeon General William H. Hammond and World War I Surgeon General M.W. Ireland. There is also a large collection of artificial limbs, dating from the post-Civil War era to after World War II, including two made by American POWs. The collection includes splints ranging from 19th century American Indian splints and American wood splints to 20th century splints made from fiberglass and steel. The history of total joint arthroplasty is represented by the mock up of the Jules Pean's artificial shoulder implant of 1890, a collection of joint prosthetics tested or developed by the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, and the prototype UCI Total Knee.

HC 28

• Surgery, Cardiovascular, 1950-present
• Approximately 50 items.
• Consists primarily of artificial heart valves developed in the late 1960s and 1970s, including the Hufenagel valve, the first artificial heart valve. Also included is the ventricular bypass developed by Michael Debakey.

HC 29

• Surgery, Eye, 1880-present
• Approximately 20 items.
• Documents the development of specialized instruments developed for ophthalmic surgery.

HC 30

• Surgery, Obstetrical-Gynecological, 1850-present
• Approximately 70 items.
• Most of the artifacts document the treatment of women during pregnancy, including the various means of delivery as well as abortion. Highlights include a sample of the RU-486 abortion pill and an 1870-pattern Army obstetrical-gynecological kit issued to Army surgeons in the Western territories.

HC 31