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AN INEXPENSIVE CLINICAL CAMERA FOR EVERYDAY USE
241
In 4 of the embryos the gonad was identified while in 2 its differentiation was insufficiently testis, advanced to allow histological classification.
negative ". as a
Medical Research Unit, National Spastics Society, Department of Child Health, Guy’s Hospital, London.
PAUL E. POLANI.
AN INEXPENSIVE CLINICAL CAMERA FOR EVERYDAY USE
SIR,-Last
year Gardner1 described
an
automatic
clinical camera, in use at the Radcliffe Infirmary. 35 mm. film was used, and there were two close-range focusing fields of 41/2 and 8 in. showed that this camera was similar square. Illustrations in size and appearance to a portable X-ray machine. There was no reference to price, but this was obviously an expensive piece of equipment, beyond the means of
positions giving photographic
most
hospitals.
worth drawing attention, therefore, to the excellent results in clinical photography which can be obtained with an ordinary 35 mm. hand camera, coupled to a simple frame and flash-gun. The camera illustrated here (figs. 1-3), and in use in the Isle of Wight hospitals, is an Agfa ’Sillette ’; the flash-gun clamped tothe frame behind it is the standard Kodak shop article, and the frame itself, which can be sterilised by boiling, home-made locally. This equipment, plus two standard Kodak close-up lenses focusing respectively at 10 in. and 18 in. (similar disIt
seems
those of the Radcliffe model), was bought by the advisory committee for a total cost of E22.
tances to
medical
1.
Gardner, A. M.
N.
Lancet, 1958, i, 1316.
Fig. 4-Print made from colour transparency.
The whole outfit is designed to be portable and " foolproof " in operation. Instructions for use"(see below) are printed on a card kept with the camera which is in the charge of the operating-theatre technician, and available to any member of the staff who wishes to use it in theatre, wards, outpatient department, or even at another hospital. A book is kept in which the staff-member records the subject and number of exposures taken. An annual allotment of film is subscribed by the medical advisory committee, but transparencies remain the property of the consultant taking them. "
Since our apparatus was made Messrs. Kodak have put on the British market a similar one which can be used with a ’Bantam colorsnap ’, ’Retina ’, or ’Retinette’ camera. It appears, however, to suffer from the drawback of having only one close-up focusing distance, at 7 in. It is not suggested that a cheap camera of this kind can have the same capacity for specialised work as the Radcliffe one. On the other hand, for ordinary clinical photography it is probably capable of producing equally good results, with the advantages of greater flexibility and of requiring no special skill to operate. The accompanying illustration (fig. 4) of a fibroid uterus at operation is typical of the standard of transparency produced by members of the hospital staff. Instructions for Use There are three main parts-the camera itself, the flash-bulb attachment, and the focusing’view-finding frame. The camera is removed from its leather case and the frame clamped on. The flashbulb attachment is then screwed on behind the camera and its electric cable connected to the special attachment on the camera which synchronises it with the shutter. The frame is adjustable to the two distances at which pictures are to be taken, and there is a different lens which simply springs on to the front of the camera lens for each distance. To work at 10 in. from lens front.-Lens No. (recognisable by three yellow bars on its rim) is placed over the front of the camera. The frame is adjusted to 10 in. and the aperture set at f 16. For both distances the shutter speed is 1 60 and the focus on the camera scale 3 ft.-i.e., the shortest focusing distance obtainable. To work at 18 in.from lensfront.-Applylens No. 1 (one yellow bar on rim) to camera front and set the aperture at/11or, for a very dark object, f8. Adjust the frame at 18 in. and remove the smaller frame inserted inside it as this gives the size of the 10 in. picture and will, at 18 in., obscure the picture if not removed. A flash bulb is used for each exposure and when inserting a new one it is important to see that the small wires at the base of the bulb are in contact with metal and not asbestos in the socket. Lastly, the green lever on the right-hand side of the camera is a delayed shutter release and should be kept at setting X, not V, unless the delayed action is required. I should like to express my thanks to my colleagues, Mr. Frank Heckford, Dr. J. C. Harland, and Dr. J. H. L. Conway-Hughes, for their helpful cooperation, to Mr. J. J. O’Donoghue for the loan of the transparency, and to our hospital photographer, Mr. Norman Paterson, for his skill and expertise in making the frame.
Fig. 2-close-up field focused from lens front.
at 10 in.
field focused at 18 in. from lens front.
Fig. 3-Larger
Royal
Isle of
Wight County Hospital, Ryde, Isle of Wight.
E. H.
J. SMYTH.
In 4 of the embryos the gonad was identified while in 2 its differentiation was insufficiently testis, advanced to allow histological classification.
negative ". as a
Medical Research Unit, National Spastics Society, Department of Child Health, Guy’s Hospital, London.
PAUL E. POLANI.
AN INEXPENSIVE CLINICAL CAMERA FOR EVERYDAY USE
SIR,-Last
year Gardner1 described
an
automatic
clinical camera, in use at the Radcliffe Infirmary. 35 mm. film was used, and there were two close-range focusing fields of 41/2 and 8 in. showed that this camera was similar square. Illustrations in size and appearance to a portable X-ray machine. There was no reference to price, but this was obviously an expensive piece of equipment, beyond the means of
positions giving photographic
most
hospitals.
worth drawing attention, therefore, to the excellent results in clinical photography which can be obtained with an ordinary 35 mm. hand camera, coupled to a simple frame and flash-gun. The camera illustrated here (figs. 1-3), and in use in the Isle of Wight hospitals, is an Agfa ’Sillette ’; the flash-gun clamped tothe frame behind it is the standard Kodak shop article, and the frame itself, which can be sterilised by boiling, home-made locally. This equipment, plus two standard Kodak close-up lenses focusing respectively at 10 in. and 18 in. (similar disIt
seems
those of the Radcliffe model), was bought by the advisory committee for a total cost of E22.
tances to
medical
1.
Gardner, A. M.
N.
Lancet, 1958, i, 1316.
Fig. 4-Print made from colour transparency.
The whole outfit is designed to be portable and " foolproof " in operation. Instructions for use"(see below) are printed on a card kept with the camera which is in the charge of the operating-theatre technician, and available to any member of the staff who wishes to use it in theatre, wards, outpatient department, or even at another hospital. A book is kept in which the staff-member records the subject and number of exposures taken. An annual allotment of film is subscribed by the medical advisory committee, but transparencies remain the property of the consultant taking them. "
Since our apparatus was made Messrs. Kodak have put on the British market a similar one which can be used with a ’Bantam colorsnap ’, ’Retina ’, or ’Retinette’ camera. It appears, however, to suffer from the drawback of having only one close-up focusing distance, at 7 in. It is not suggested that a cheap camera of this kind can have the same capacity for specialised work as the Radcliffe one. On the other hand, for ordinary clinical photography it is probably capable of producing equally good results, with the advantages of greater flexibility and of requiring no special skill to operate. The accompanying illustration (fig. 4) of a fibroid uterus at operation is typical of the standard of transparency produced by members of the hospital staff. Instructions for Use There are three main parts-the camera itself, the flash-bulb attachment, and the focusing’view-finding frame. The camera is removed from its leather case and the frame clamped on. The flashbulb attachment is then screwed on behind the camera and its electric cable connected to the special attachment on the camera which synchronises it with the shutter. The frame is adjustable to the two distances at which pictures are to be taken, and there is a different lens which simply springs on to the front of the camera lens for each distance. To work at 10 in. from lens front.-Lens No. (recognisable by three yellow bars on its rim) is placed over the front of the camera. The frame is adjusted to 10 in. and the aperture set at f 16. For both distances the shutter speed is 1 60 and the focus on the camera scale 3 ft.-i.e., the shortest focusing distance obtainable. To work at 18 in.from lensfront.-Applylens No. 1 (one yellow bar on rim) to camera front and set the aperture at/11or, for a very dark object, f8. Adjust the frame at 18 in. and remove the smaller frame inserted inside it as this gives the size of the 10 in. picture and will, at 18 in., obscure the picture if not removed. A flash bulb is used for each exposure and when inserting a new one it is important to see that the small wires at the base of the bulb are in contact with metal and not asbestos in the socket. Lastly, the green lever on the right-hand side of the camera is a delayed shutter release and should be kept at setting X, not V, unless the delayed action is required. I should like to express my thanks to my colleagues, Mr. Frank Heckford, Dr. J. C. Harland, and Dr. J. H. L. Conway-Hughes, for their helpful cooperation, to Mr. J. J. O’Donoghue for the loan of the transparency, and to our hospital photographer, Mr. Norman Paterson, for his skill and expertise in making the frame.
Fig. 2-close-up field focused from lens front.
at 10 in.
field focused at 18 in. from lens front.
Fig. 3-Larger
Royal
Isle of
Wight County Hospital, Ryde, Isle of Wight.
E. H.
J. SMYTH.