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ASA NEWSLETTER
 
 
September 1998
Volume 62
Number 9
 

A Pictorial Review of Pediatric Anesthesia Artifacts

George S. Bause, M.D., Trustee
Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology



Postpartum to 1997's "Obstetric Anesthesia" theme, the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology salutes "150 Years of Pediatric Anesthesia" in 1998. In addition, we are saluting the 50th anniversary of the conception of the world's first precision vaporizer: Dr. Lucien Morris' Copper Kettle. The following pictorial review was photographed from materials at the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.

Life Saving Devices (LSD) Infant Lungmotor (c.1914)
Donor: Anonymous
Patterned after Germany's Drager 1907 Pulmotor for resuscitating miners, the United States LSD Infant Lungmotor was a scaled-down version of the 1914 LSD Lungmotor for adults.

Revell Trico Motor Circulator Prototype (c.1946)
Donor: Daniel G. Revell, M.D.
An innovative Canadian, Dr. Revell adapted automobile windshield fans/wiper-motors to eliminate under-mask deadspace, which contributed to rapid, deep ventilations in spontaneously breathing children under general anesthesia.

Revell Divided Chimney-piece (1946)
Donor: Daniel G. Revell, M.D.
Copied by mass-producer Heidbrink, the Revell divided chimney-piece was the one consistent component of the Revell circulator as it evolved through a series of prototypes for preventing under-mask deadspace during pediatric anesthetics.

Stephen-Slater Nonrebreathing Valve (1948)
Donors: Drs. Ronald E. Peacock and James D. Shadoan
Designed by Drs. Harry M. Slater and "extremes of life specialist" C. Ronald Stephen, the Stephen-Slater valve could 1) prevent rebreathing of expired gas in the spontaneously ventilating child and even 2) control ventilation if the anesthesiologist held the expiratory valve closed while squeezing the bag.

Jackson-Rees Modification of the T-piece (1950)
Donors: Drs. James D. Shadoan and Ronald E. Peacock
A Mapleson F system, this modification of Ayre's 1937 T-piece (by Dr. G. Jackson Rees) permitted spontaneous, controlled or assisted ventilation of the pediatric patient.

Bennett Model GBL Infant Hand Resuscitator (c.1950)
Donor: St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Chicago, Illinois
Rubber-lined for comfort, the Bennett's masks had a fair amount of dead space.

Bloomquist Infant Circle Absorber (1957)
Donor: Robert Schreier, M.D.
Foregger was the earliest American manufacturer to supply both adult and pediatric circuits with absorbers for removing CO2, thereby permitting closed circuit use of expensive newer anesthetic gases.

Revell Mark III Circulator (c.1959)
Donor: Daniel G. Revell, M.D.
A turbo-impeller, this version of the Revell circulator united a Trico automobile fan motor with a squirrel-wheel air-mover from an electric plant-duster.

DUPACO Revell "Cirqulator" (c.1960)
Donor: R. Douglas Sanders, M.D.
Like the WAECO production model, the DUPACO version was not available before 1960.

WAECO Revell "Cirqulator" (c.1960)
Donor: Daniel G. Revell, M.D.
Although Revell experimented with circulators as early as 1946, the WAECO commercial "Cirqulator" was not available before 1960.

No. 60 Ohio-Heidbrink Infant Circle Absorber (c.1960)
Donor: Myron J. Levin, M.D.
As an answer to Foregger's model of the Bloomquist Infant Circle Absorber, the Heidbrink Division of Ohio produced this popular device for absorbing CO2 expired by smaller patients.


Celebrating Its 50th Anniversary:
The Copper Kettle

First Commercial Foregger Texas Model with Copper Kettle (1952)
Donor: Theodore C. Smith, M.D.
Dr. Lucien Morris designed this beautiful machine with a copper table top as part of the world's first precision vaporizer: the Copper Kettle.

Top-fill Foregger Model of Morris' Copper Kettle Vaporizer (1952)
Donor: James Tempesta, M.D.
Filled from the top, early versions of this precision vaporizer could be overfilled so that patients faced overdosing on liquid anesthetic spilled into the discharge tube. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Dr. Lucien Morris' conception of the Copper Kettle.

Side-fill Foregger Model of Morris' Copper Kettle Vaporizer (c.1965)
Donor: Elliott V. Miller, M.D.
The world's first precision vaporizer, the Copper Kettle was now more "idiot-proof" with the side-filling port precluding overdose from overfilling.


George S. Bause, M.D., is Honorary Curator of the Wood Library-
Museum of Anesthesiology, Park Ridge, Illinois.
E-mail the author.

 


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The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views, policies or actions of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

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