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Electronics probes human heart
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CURRENT TOPICS
Electronics Probes Human Heart. - - I t is now possible to take blood samples from within a beating heart and simultaneously make extremely accurate measurements of in-heart blood pressure. A tiny pressure pickup device threaded through arteries directly into the heart will help diagnose various heart defects. The device was described by Alan Warnick, supervisor of the electronics department, of the scientific laboratory of Ford Motor Company's engineering staff, at the recent I R E convention. The instrument, thinner than a match stick and only half an inch long, was developed in cooperation with the Henry Ford Hospital. The system measures blood pressure actually inside the heart, and because of this is free from interference and distortions. Blood pressure is converted into electrical signals so small that the electronics laboratory had to develop a new amplifier to bring the electrical pulses up to a level that could be recorded. Satisfactory results were obtained in animal experimentation and the instrument now has been used on more than a dozen adult patients. The type of diagnostic research being done is called "cardiac catheterization," and involves studies of blood pressure and pulse in the heart, plus a sampling of blood taken from one of the chambers. The sensing element employs the strain-gage principle. Within the device a miniature bellows is activated by cardiac pressure. The bellows presses against a coil of wire that encircles it, wire many times thinner than a human hair. This wire has a current of electricity running through it and when stretched by the bellows, it increases its electrical resistance.
[3. F. I.
This electrical change, amplified and recorded, has a higher natural frequency than other types, above 2000 cycles per second. Because of this, its readings are particularly valuable for work with infants and children where faster heartbeats increase the problem of interference by vibration.
Non-Depressant Anesthetic.--Results of a preliminary study involving use of Sernyl, a new, non-depressant, rapid-acting anesthetic, were delivered recently before the International Congress of Research Anesthetists. Dr. F. E. Greifenstein, Professor of Anesthesiology at Wayne State University's College of Medicine in Detroit, reported that the injectable anesthetic opened avenues to "additional work with non-barbiturates as anesthetics." The doctor and his associates, Dr. Marion DeVault, Dr. J. Yoshitake and Dr. John E. Gajewski, observed the new anesthetic in 70 patients at Detroit's Receiving Hospital. Sernyl does not depress respiration or circulation and induces a temporary amnesia in patients, Dr. Greifenstein said. As a result, they are unable to recall any of the operating room procedures other than the initial injection of the drug. He said Sernyl leaves patients insensible to pain, is adequate for superficial surgery, and, in combination with relaxing drugs, can be used satisfactorily in major surgery. Sernyl was developed by Parke, Davis & Company, world-wide pharmaceutical firm, and is the company's registered trademark for 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl) piperidine monohydrochloride.
CURRENT TOPICS
Electronics Probes Human Heart. - - I t is now possible to take blood samples from within a beating heart and simultaneously make extremely accurate measurements of in-heart blood pressure. A tiny pressure pickup device threaded through arteries directly into the heart will help diagnose various heart defects. The device was described by Alan Warnick, supervisor of the electronics department, of the scientific laboratory of Ford Motor Company's engineering staff, at the recent I R E convention. The instrument, thinner than a match stick and only half an inch long, was developed in cooperation with the Henry Ford Hospital. The system measures blood pressure actually inside the heart, and because of this is free from interference and distortions. Blood pressure is converted into electrical signals so small that the electronics laboratory had to develop a new amplifier to bring the electrical pulses up to a level that could be recorded. Satisfactory results were obtained in animal experimentation and the instrument now has been used on more than a dozen adult patients. The type of diagnostic research being done is called "cardiac catheterization," and involves studies of blood pressure and pulse in the heart, plus a sampling of blood taken from one of the chambers. The sensing element employs the strain-gage principle. Within the device a miniature bellows is activated by cardiac pressure. The bellows presses against a coil of wire that encircles it, wire many times thinner than a human hair. This wire has a current of electricity running through it and when stretched by the bellows, it increases its electrical resistance.
[3. F. I.
This electrical change, amplified and recorded, has a higher natural frequency than other types, above 2000 cycles per second. Because of this, its readings are particularly valuable for work with infants and children where faster heartbeats increase the problem of interference by vibration.
Non-Depressant Anesthetic.--Results of a preliminary study involving use of Sernyl, a new, non-depressant, rapid-acting anesthetic, were delivered recently before the International Congress of Research Anesthetists. Dr. F. E. Greifenstein, Professor of Anesthesiology at Wayne State University's College of Medicine in Detroit, reported that the injectable anesthetic opened avenues to "additional work with non-barbiturates as anesthetics." The doctor and his associates, Dr. Marion DeVault, Dr. J. Yoshitake and Dr. John E. Gajewski, observed the new anesthetic in 70 patients at Detroit's Receiving Hospital. Sernyl does not depress respiration or circulation and induces a temporary amnesia in patients, Dr. Greifenstein said. As a result, they are unable to recall any of the operating room procedures other than the initial injection of the drug. He said Sernyl leaves patients insensible to pain, is adequate for superficial surgery, and, in combination with relaxing drugs, can be used satisfactorily in major surgery. Sernyl was developed by Parke, Davis & Company, world-wide pharmaceutical firm, and is the company's registered trademark for 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl) piperidine monohydrochloride.