Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-01-03

HEART TESTED BY PHONE.
Wonderful instrument at Johns Hop
kins Can Fed Pulse Of Whole City.

/. The heart Station" the establish
lmcnt Of which has been contemplated
f"r some time by the directors OF
Johns Hopkins Hospital. is now in
operation at that Institution. Tin, in
strunents, which were Il Manufactured
by E.drlnann in Munich, Germany. ar
rived in baltimore two weeks ago and
have been installed by DR.. g. \ Bond.
Ii is Il Well-knoWn principle OF
physics that When Il current is con-
Quoted by a nJnstatiOndTy medium
through a magnetic field the current.
and consequently, the conductor will
be detected in direction at right
angles to the course Of the current.
II has also been known IN ihr medical
world that as every muscle in TIE body
generates certain amount Of electro
cal current in movement. So that heart
generates current iii its movement.
|. is also known that an Imaginary line
through the body has on one side all
tn" currents generated by one side of
the heart and on The other side the
currents generated by the opposite
side, 50 that by connecting an clcctrodc
t" each side Of the body. oblitcratiHg
all other cum, ntS 81 The body by pl5ic.
MS IL 80 iA'biiN ppSSlblf at ltSl, iiic
ph! stefan has tho current of the heart
whore h" can measure and examine II.
WVrking on this Erirciplc scientists
have been trying for years 10 devise an
instrument to record tho heart cur
rents. The most successful of these
was the capillary 81 nctrumctcr, in
which the nonStatonary conductor was
IL small column OF mercury. The
difficulty with this, az with all others
vi to the present inycntinn. Vas that
the sloWn,Ss of the movement of the
medium prevented an accurate record.
To do away with this slothfulness III
the conductor was the aim Of w. Elm
thoNen, the pcrfccter of the machine
that mas been brought to Baltimore.
His success is due to the use of a con-
ductor of spun quartz or platinum wire
OF Il diameter of one-tWelve hundred
and fitticth Of an inch, one half the
thickness of It red blood corpuscle.
which cannot be seen with the naked
eye. This wire is suspended in Il mag
netic field made by two powerful mag
nets.
From the heart station in the base
ment Of the surgical building wires and
Il telephone run to each ward in the
hospital. The patient is put a, rest,
one cleetrodc is fastened to his arm
and one to the opposite leg, and the
current generated lay the movement of
the heart OF the patient is conducted to
the quartz wire suspended in the mag
netic field, which is detected according
to the amount of current flowing
through it.
An arc light is thrown through a
condensinS microscope upon the NOV
ing wire. the shadow from which is
thrown through another microscope,
which masnifics it Geo times and
throws the shadow through a slit at
right angles to the position of the wire
upon screen. Back of the screen is
Il camera with a rotating film. which
takes record picture of the move
ment on the point made by the inter-
section OF the slit with the shadow of
the wire. This picture is compared
with pictures of perfect normal heart
currents. and by this method the
physicians are often able to determine
the nature Of the PATIENTS afEliction.