After three years of research and building prototypes, he introduced the string galvanometer in 1904 to the field of electrocardiography.Įinthoven’s galvanometer used a thin silver-plated quartz fiber to measure electrical signals. The duo was able to solve the equations and correct Waller’s measurements.Įinthoven wanted to develop a better device that could be used in clinical medicine. According to an entry in the Engineering and Technology History Wiki, he sought the help of Hendrik Lorentz, a physics professor at Leiden who won the 1902 Nobel Prize in his field. Einthoven wasn’t a physicist, however, and he had trouble finding a mathematical solution that would correct the errors. He found errors in the visual recordings, according to a 2003 article in the Cardiac Electrophysiology Review. Waller and the Electrocardiogram, 1887,” a 1987 article in The BMJ.Įinthoven, a physiology professor at Leiden University, in the Netherlands, began to analyze Waller’s data in 1901. Waller also did not recognize the clinical importance of the device and technique, according to “ A.D. The movement of the mercury, which represented the heart’s electrical pulses, was projected onto a photographic plate, a flat sheet of metal on which an image was recorded.Īlthough Waller was able to record the patient’s heartbeat and the heart’s electric pulses, the device was not accurate or precise, and it was slow in recording the pulses. Electrodes were placed on the patient’s chest and back when electrical current entered the tube, the mercury leapt up a short distance. It consisted of a capillary electrometer that was affixed to a projector. Using the electrometer, British physiologist Augustus Desiré Waller developed the first EKG machine in 1887. When a pulse of electricity was sent through the machine, there were small changes in surface tension between the mercury and sulfuric acid, according to an article about the technology on the National Museum of American History website. The tube’s thin end acted as a capillary-a narrow tube that allowed liquids to flow easily in opposition to gravity. The machine consisted of metal wires and a tube with one thick end and one thin end that was filled with mercury and sulfuric acid. Scientists began the journey to modern electrocardiography in 1873 thanks to the capillary electrometer-which was invented by Gabriel Lippmann to detect electric current. Image: Science History Photo: SSPL/GettyImages THE ROAD TO THE EKG “In this way the medical world received an important diagnostic tool to discover certain heart diseases.”ĭue to the coronavirus pandemic, the Milestone dedication ceremony is still being planned.Įlectrocardiogram recorded using Einthoven’s string galvanometer (top).Įlectrocardiogram recorded using British physiologist Augustus Desiré Waller’s EKG machine (bottom). “The string galvanometer offered the opportunity to record the human electrocardiogram in detail,” says IEEE Life Senior Member Wim van Etten, the section’s Milestone coordinator. Administered by the IEEE History Center and supported by donors, the Milestone program recognizes outstanding technical developments around the world. The IEEE Benelux (Belgium) Section sponsored the nomination. The string galvanometer, which consists of a metal fiber stretched between two magnets, was originally developed by French engineer Clément Adair in 1872 to send telegrams.Įinthoven’s EKG work has now been commemorated with an IEEE Milestone. The technique has its origins in the work of Willem Einthoven, who in 1905 used a string galvanometer to conduct the first recording of a human electrocardiogram (EKG). The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.THE INSTITUTE For more than 100 years, doctors have relied on electrocardiography to measure the heart’s electrical activity. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it.
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