Improvements relating to the Treatment of Patients Preparatory to and During Surgical and Dental Operations, and to Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Dec., 1890-Accepted, 31st Jan., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to the Treatment of Patients Preparatory
to and During Surgical and Dental Operations, and to Apparatus
therefor.
I, CORNELIUS BENNETT HARNESS, of the Medical Battery Company, Limited,
52 Oxford Street in the County of Middlesex Medical Electrician, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to the treatment of patients preparatory to and during
surgical and dental operations, for the purpose of deadening the pain or rendering
the patients insensible to the pain caused by such operations.
For this purpose, I proceed as follows viz.: I subject the patient, for a suitable
length of time previous to the performance of the operation, to the action of an
electric current, which is caused to pass through, the body of the patient in any
convenient manner. As soon as the desired effect is produced, that is to say, as
soon as the patient has become somewhat accustomed to the action of the current,
I shunt the current from one of the electrodes whereby it is passed through the
body of the patient, and cause the said current to pass through the bistoury,
forceps or other surgical or dental instrument and thence through the body of the
patient. Or I change the path of the current in such a manner as to put both of
the said electrodes in connection with the positive pole and the instrument in
connection with the negative pole of an induction-coil or magneto-electric machine.
My said invention, moreover, comprises improved apparatus whereby I am enabled
to apply the electric current in a more convenient and advantageous manner and
with greater comfort to the patient than heretofore..
My said apparatus comprises a chair, couch, table or similar support upon which
the patient can sit, lay or rest in any convenient position during the operation, and
beneath the seat or upper portion of which are arranged (preferably in a suitable
box or case) an electric battery and an induction-coil or a magneto-electric machine.
The said chair, couch or similar support is, moreover, provided with electrodes
which are connected with either the primary or the secondary of the said induction-
coil, or with the conductors of the magneto electric machine, and are so arranged
that they can be conveniently grasped by the hands of the patient or applied to
other parts of his body. The said apparatus also comprises a conductor adapted
to be connected with a bistoury, forceps or other surgical or dental instrument.
A suitable commutator is provided which the operator can control with his foot or
otherwise, and whereby one of the said electrodes may be electrically disconnected
from the negative pole and connected with the positive pole of the said induction-
coil or magneto-electric machine, and connection may be simultaneously established
between the said induction-coil or magneto-electric machine and the conductor
connected with the instrument to be used in performing the operation.
By enclosing the battery and induction-coil or the magneto-electric machine in
a box or case beneath the upper portion of the chair, couch or similar support,
I am enabled to conceal them from the patients' view, and 1 can make the chair,
couch or other support substantially similar in appearance to chairs, couches or the
like ordinarily used for similar purposes. Moreover the electrical apparatus can be
very readily moved with the chair, couch or the like in order to change the position
of the patient for the purpose of obtaining better light or for any other purpose.
And the treadle for working the commutator can be so arranged that it can be

page_text: controued by the operator while standing in the position most favorable for operating
upon the patient.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in vertical section, of the left hand side of one
form of my improved apparatus, the side of the box or case being removed to show
the battery and other parts.
Figure 2 is an elevation of the right hand side of the said apparatus, the side of
the said box or case and the head rest hereinafter mentioned being removed.
Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the said apparatus.
Figure 4 is a horizontal section on the line a, e, Figure 3.
Figures 5 and 6 are diagrams illustrating the mode of connecting the parts, and
showing, in two different positions, the commutator hereinafter described.
Figures 7 to 12 illustrate various forms of electrodes for use with my apparatus.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
A is the chair; B is the vessel or receptacle of the battery designed to receive
the exciting liquid, the carbons C and the zine D. The battery shown in the
drawings is intended to be set in action by means of potassium bichromate, I may,
however, employ any other suitable battery.
The zinc D is suspended from a lever E which is pivoted to a bracket El
attached to the seat of the chair, which forms the top of the box or case for enclosing
the battery and other parts. The said lever D is designed to move or adjust the
zine so as to immerse it more or less in the liquid, or to withdraw it therefrom. The
said lever is actuated by means of a handle F which, by its rotary movement, turns
a toothed pinion F¹ geared with a rack G which is fitted to slide up and down in
the back of the chair and is coupled at its lower end to the said lever. This rack
in turn communicates its motion to the said lever E so that the operator has only
to turn the handle F in one or the other direction, in order to set the battery in or
put it out of action.
H is the induction-coil which is mounted upon trunnions H', about which it can
turn so as to incline towards the front or rear to permit the required movements of
the insulating tube J by the lever K. This lever serves to move the insulating
tube J out of and into the coil so as to uncover and cover its core of soft iron.
The said lever K is pivoted to a bracket K' attached to the seat of the chair,
and is actuated by means of a handle L, a pinion L' and a rack M coupled to
the said lever, substantially as above described with respect to the lever for raising
and lowering the zinc of the battery. The said battery is connected in the usual
manner with the primary of the induction-coil and is constructed with a trembler,
contact-piece and terminals in the usual or other suitable manner. I may employ
different kinds of induction-coils as may be desired. Or I can use in place of the
battery and induction-coil, a suitable magneto-electric machine operated by a treadle
or otherwise.
The commutator comprises a cylinder N made of a non-conductor of electricity;
at the extremities of this cylinder are metallic journals which are held in brackets P.
These journals are in contact with plates a, a secured upon the said cylinder, which
plates conduct the currents to suitable terminals hereinafter referred to; the said
journals are also in contact with the metallic brackets P, each of which is connected
to one of the wires from the poles of the induction-coil, as at P1, P2, Figures 5 and 6.
On one of the said journals of the commutator is fixed a treadle-lever Q whereby
the operator may turn the commutator with his foot. On the other journal is fixed
a lever R which extends in the reverse direction to the lever Q, and which is
provided with a weight R¹ or with a suitable spring which automatically effects the
return movement of the commutator and thus brings the metallic plates a, a back
to their original position when the lever Q is released.
The electrodes T; T' are connected by the wires U, U¹ to terminals V, VI,
attached to the upper part of a bracket W. The electrode T is also connected
by the wire U with the terminal V2 also secured in the said bracket, and a wire U³

page_text: is connected with the terminal V fixed in the said bracket and with the surgical or
dental instrument X.
Referring to the diagrams shown in Figures 5 and 6, the terminal V is at all
times in contact with the corresponding plate a. Assuming that the wire P¹ is
connected with the positive pole and the wire P with the negative pole of the
induction-coil, then in the position occupied by the commutator as shown in
Figure 5, the contact plates a, a are connected through the terminals V, V2 and
wires U, U, with the electrodes T, T', so as to produce at each of the said
electrodes T, T¹ a different pole. Neither of the terminals V1, V³ is at this time, in
contact with the corresponding plate a.
When the patient sits down in the chair, he grasps the electrodes T, T¹ one in
each hand. The operator then turns the knob or handle F and thus lowers the
zine D into the exciting liquid of the battery; he also turns the knob or handle L
and thus raises the insulating tube J more or less out of the induction-coil H. The
patient is thus subjected to the action of the electric current. When, in the opinion
of the operator, this action has been maintained for a sufficient length of time, the
operator, by pressing his foot upon the treadle-lever Q, imparts to the cylinder N
of the commutator a rotary movement through the required angle to bring the
plates a, a into the position shown in Figure 6; so that the positive pole is connected
through the terminals V, VI with the electrodes T, T¹ respectively, whilst the
negative pole is disconnected from the electrode TI by the corresponding plate a
being moved away from the terminal V, and is put in connection with the wire U³
through the terminal V³, and the current is thus caused to pass through the
instrument X. It is at this moment that the conditions are favorable for the
operation, the patient not experiencing anything but the well known sensation
caused by the induction current.
At the upper part of the back of the chair is a head-rest Y adapted to move
about a ball-and-socket joint the clamp or socket of which is tightened by means
of the handle Y¹.
The wires extending to the electrodes and to the surgical or dental instrument
are passed through suitable channels formed for this purpose in the wooden parts of
the chair. The wire U for the forceps or other instrument passes through the
upright of the back of the chair and is connected to a terminal at the top of the
chair as shown in Figures 2 and 3.
In order not to needlessly complicate the drawings, I have not shown in all the
figures the wires which lead from the battery to the coil, from the coil to
the commutator and from the commutator to the electrodes or to the surgical or
dental instrument.
The electrodes instead of being made in the form of handles as shown, may be of
any other suitable form. Moreover they may be applied to any convenient parts of
the body of the patient.
In Figure 7 I have shown a pair of electrodes designed to be applied to the back
of the patient in Figure 8 a pair which may be conveniently applied to the
abdomen. The pair of electrodes shown in Figure 9 is intended for the feet,
those shown in Figures 10 and 12 are applicable to various parts of the body; the
pair shown in Figure 11 is intended to be secured around the arms or legs of the
patient.
The said electrodes may be conveniently and advantageously formed of wire
woven or otherwise worked into any suitable fabric, or they may be otherwise
made.
It is evident that my improvements above described are also applicable to couches,
tables or other suitable supports for patients undergoing surgical or dental
operations.
It is evident that should the preparatory treatment of the patient, in any case, be
deemed unnecessary the electrodes may be permanently connected with the positive
pole and the instrument with the negative pole of the induction-coil or magneto-
electric machine.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I wish it understood that
I claim :-
First. The herein described method of providing for the treatment of patients
preparatory to and during surgical and dental operations, by first causing an electric
current to pass through the body of the patient between any two parts thereof, and
then changing the path of the current so that it will pass through the patients body
between one or both of the said parts and the part operated upon, for the purpose
above specified.
Second. The herein described method of providing for the treatment of patients
preparatory to and during surgical and dental operations, by means of a chair,
couch, table or similar support for the patient, provided with electrodes arranged to
be connected with one or both poles of an induction-coil or magneto-electric machine,
and a bistoury, forceps or other surgical or dental instrument arranged to be
connected with the other pole of the said induction-coil or magneto-electric machine,
for the purposes above specified.
Third. The combination of a chair, couch, table or similar support, an electric
battery and induction coil or a magneto-electric machine enclosed in the space
beneath the seat or upper part of the said chair or other support, electrodes attached
to the chair or other support, and a conductor adapted to be connected with a
bistoury, forceps or other surgical or dental instrument, with or without the
commutator, all substantially as, and for the purposes, above specified.
Fourth. The improved apparatus consisting of the parts constructed and combined
substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and
operating as, and for the purposes, above specified.
ham 1900
C. B. HARNESS.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.