Accession No

4117

Brief Description

12-volt lantern for an electrocardiograph (ECG), by Cambridge Instrument Company Ltd., 2/4 20th C

Origin

England

Maker

Cambridge Instrument Company Ltd.

Class

medical

Earliest Date

1925

Latest Date

1950

Inscription Date

Material

metal (brass, at least 2 white metals); wood; cloth; glass; ceramic

Dimensions

height 226mm; depth 150mm; breadth 70mm

Special Collection

Cambridge Instrument Company Collection

Provenance

Donated by the Cambridge Instrument Company.

Inscription

Description Notes

12-volt lantern for ECG, with microscope carriage.
Glass bulb in ceramic and brass mount, encased in black-painted white metal cylinder. Cloth-insulated lead running to wood and white metal two-pin plug. Carries microscope carriage, for attachment to an Einthoven string galvanometer. Four brass terminals on microscope carriage.
Attached paper label with list no. and other side marked ‘Box containing
1 12 volt lantern with microscope carriage
1 microscope tube
3 slipplers large
1 wrist electrode
1 lens on stand clamp
1 tamber on stand clamp
1 slipper small
1 phonic wheel disc’.

Condition fair (paint scored); complete.

References

Events

Description
By the early 1920s, the Cambridge Standard Electrocardiograph had become an established clinicial tool; however, demands on the use of the machine forced designers to modify the instrument. There were three problems in particular: the instrument was sensitive to vibrations (though this was later disproven), considerable skill and training was required for the successful operation of the machine, and lastly, the instrument was extremely heavy. In order create a more mobile apparatus for use in hospital wards, a trolley-mounted version of the Standard was developed. The instrument’s success as a diagnostic tool eventually led to the re-design of electrocardiograph as a portable instrument that could be carried by a medical practitioner.

08/07/2014
Created by: Allison Ksiazkiewicz on 08/07/2014

FM:44092