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Procedures and Techniques - Therapeutics
The history of therapeutics is the history of how physicians understand disease. Prevailing medical ideology is reflected by the devices developed and used by physicians. Museum artifacts document animal magnetism, heroic medicine, the development of vaccination, physical therapy, and other changing technologies, as well as the persistence of traditional practices such as acupuncture. Therapeutic objects comprise approximately five percent of the collection.
HC 9
- Acupuncture, 1860-present
- Approximately 15 items.
- The earliest acupuncture needles are from a set of Chinese instruments donated to the museum by a missionary doctor around the turn of the century. Also included are acupuncture needles and manikins manufactured in the People's Republic of China during the 1960s. Contemporary interest in traditional practices are documented by the small collection of acupuncture needles in sterile wrappers.
HC 10
- Animal Magnetism, 1790
- 1 item.
- Perkin's Metallic Tractors, the first medical device patented in the United States, was based on a theory called animal magnetism. While Elisha Perkin's theory was later discredited, it led to the discovery of hypnosis.
HC 11
- Biological Therapy, 1850-1940
- Approximately 105 items.
- Includes 19th century vaccination lancets and a small collection of early 20th century blood transfusion apparatuses.
HC 12
- Contraception, 1960-present
- Approximately 60 items.
- Includes condoms from the 1980s to the present and female contraceptives, such as the pill, the sponge, diaphragms, and female condoms ranging from the mid-1960s to the present.
HC 13
- Emergency Treatment, 1870-present
- Approximately 60 items.
- Includes 24 first aid kits, ranging from combat medics' bags to civilian automobile first aid kits. There are also respiration devices ranging from emergency breathing devices to iron lungs. Highlights of the collection include several large scale models of ambulances, hospital trains, and hospital ships from the late 19th century.
HC 14
- Hemodialysis, 1947-present
- Approximately 5 items.
- Highlights of the collection include the Kloff-Bigham artificial kidney that was used by Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Korea during the Korean War, which helped prove the value of the technology. Also included in the collection are the Travenol RSP artificial kidney, designed for use in the home by non-medical people and a peritoneal dialysis machine.
HC 15
- Lithotripsy, 1850-1910
- Approximately 30 items.
- Included in the collection are a wide variety of different devices created to crush bladder stones during the 19th century.
HC 16
- Physical Therapy, 1850-1970
- Approximately 65 items.
- Includes devices for the rehabilitation of patients disabled by disease or injury, such as approximately 50 electrotherapy devices and electrodes from the mid to late 19th century and several diathermy machines from the 1920s to the 1950s. A highlight of the collection is the prototype phototherapy device developed for the treatment of neonatal jaundice in the late 1970s.
HC 17
- Punctures, 1800-present
- Approximately 60 items.
- The artifacts in this category, which are for diagnostic or therapeutic punctures, are primarily bloodletting instruments. These objects document how a device continues to be used even after the purpose has changed. Most of this collection includes 18th and early 19th century bloodletting lancets, fleams, scarificators, and artificial leeches, which were intended to relieve the patient of excess blood during the era of heroic medicine with its emphasis on the humeral theory of disease. Twentieth century bloodletting devices are used to collect samples for blood tests.
HC 18
- Rehabilitation, 1910-present
- Approximately 45 items.
- Physical therapy equipment, including a small collection of tools used by occupational therapists at Walter Reed Hospital during World War I and clay sculptures made by patients during World War II, document the realization that medicine involved rehabilitation of the patient, not just curing the disease.
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