Accession No
4127
Brief Description
portable electrocardiograph (ECG), by Cambridge Instrument Company Ltd., England, c. 1935
Origin
England
Maker
Cambridge Instrument Company Ltd.
Class
medical
Earliest Date
1935
Latest Date
1935
Inscription Date
Material
wood; metal (steel, brass, copper, at least 2 white metals); plastic (at least 4 types); cloth; glass
Dimensions
length 480mm; breadth 190mm; height 250mm
Special Collection
Cambridge Instrument Company Collection
Provenance
Donated by the Cambridge Instrument Company.
Inscription
‘CAMBRIDGE PORTABLE CARDIOGRAPH’ (on base)
Description Notes
portable electrocardiograph (ECG), by the Cambridge Instrument Co., c. 1935.
Wooden base supports camera, standardizing switch, lead selector switch, time marker, string galvanometer, and projection lamp. Sensitivity and focusing knobs on front. Main switch which can be set to ‘PC-RA’, ‘LA-LL’, ‘RA-LL’, ‘RA-LA’, ‘TEST’, and ‘OFF’. Lead for transformer (transformer missing). Attached paper label reads ‘Condenser holding bracket required and spring for winding handle’.
Condition fair; incomplete
References
Events
Description
Electrocardiographs are medical instruments that measure the rhythm of heart contractions and the relative strength of different parts of the heart muscle. Unveiled in 1929, the Portable Electrocardiograph was a more practical solution to the larger and more cumbersome electrocardiograph units that the Cambridge Instrument Company previously produced. Though smaller in size, key elements of the Portable Electrocardiograph correlated to its prototype, the Cambridge Standard Electrocardiograph: the recording and timing devices, the galvanometer/optics apparatus and the electrical control panel remained consistent. In many ways the newer designs made for easier operation of the machine. New models employed exchangeable film canisters, marked levers and simplified control panels. These more ‘user-friendly’ instruments competed with alternative technologies for the electrocardiograph that used electrical rather than mechanical amplification.
06/11/2013
Created by: Allison Ksiazkiewicz on 06/11/2013
FM:44331
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