IMPROVED INSTRUMENTS OR MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED IN ILLUMINATING AND EXAMINING INTERNAL PARTS OR CAVITIES OF THE HUMAN OR ANIMAL BODY
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Clayton Mewburn, of 169, Fleet Street, in the City
"
of London, Patent Agent and Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of
IMPROVED INSTRUMENTS OR MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED IN ILLUMINATING
AND EXAMINING INTERNAL PARTS OR CAVITIES OF THE HUMAN OR ANIMAL
BODY." A communication from abroad by Doctor Maximilian Charles
Friedrich Nitze, of Vienna, Austria.
Sealed the 4th July 1879, and dated the 14th January 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Clayton Mewburn at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th January 1879.
<
JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent and Consulting Engineer. IMPROVED INSTRUMENTS OR MEANS TO BE
EMPLOYED IN ILLUMINATING AND EXAMINING INTERNAL PARTS OR CAVITIES OF
THE HUMAN OR ANIMAL BODY." [A communication from abroad by Doctor
Maximilian Charles Friedrich Nitze, of Vienna, Austria.]
The object of this Invention is to provide means for directly illuminating or
lighting cavities or internal parts of the human or animal body, and enabling them
to be examined, such, for example, as the urethra, the bladder, the larynx, the
aesophagus, the stomach, the uterus, and the outer auditory passage.
According to the methods hitherto employed for these purposes the cavities or
internal parts are illuminated by means of reflectors throwing light from somo
external source into the cavity or internal part, or the part of the body to be
examined is made transparent by some source of light suitably arranged behind
the said part which can then be ocularly examined, but the result is very seldom
satisfactory.
The method hereinafter described, and the instruments constructed according
to this method, enable the source of light to be introduced into the cavities or
internal parts themselves, so that such parts may be examined either directly or
their reflected image.
Lenses, or arrangements of lenses for enlarging the field of view may be combined
with the instruments.

page_text: The white
The source of light, which is employed according to this Invention, is a platinum
wire made incandescent by a voltaic or magneto-electric current.
heat of the said wire is reduced to a minimum by means of a current of water
flowing along the circuit-wire, and is so made harmless. It is evident that instead
of platinum wire, carbon or any other material having the required electric
resistance may be employed.
The form of the instruments in which light obtained by electricity is employed
as aforesaid depends upon the anatomical construction of the parts of the body for
which they are intended, and may be varied or modified. In most cases the instru-
ment consists of a metal tube surrounding two small pipes for water and a small
conduit for one pole of the insulated circuit-wire, one end of which is connected
with a spiral platinum wire, its other end being in connection with the voltaic or
magneto-electric apparatus. The second pole of this latter is in metallic contact
with the said metal tube itself. When the instrument has been introduced in
to the part required, and the circuit has been closed the platinum spiral becomes
The above
incandescent and throws its light upon the part to be examined.
named pipes for water communicate at one end with each other, so that the water
entering one of them flows back through and out of the other.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Clayton Mewburn in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th July 1879.
JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent and Consulting Engineer. "IMPROVED INSTRUMENTS OR MEANS TO BE
EMPLOYED IN ILLUMINATING AND EXAMINING INTERNAL PARTS OR CAVITIES OF
THE HUMAN OR ANIMAL BODY." A communication from abroad by Doctor
Maximilian Charles Friedrich Nitze, of Vienna, Austria.
The object of this Invention is to provide means for directly illuminating or
lighting cavities or internal parts of the human or animal body and enabling them
to be examined, such, for example, as the urethra, the bladder, the larynx, the
oesophagus, the stomach, the uterus, and the outer auditory passage.
According to the methods hitherto employed for these purposes, the cavities or
internal parts are illuminated by means of reflectors throwing light from some
external source into the cavity or internal part; or the part of the body to bo
examined is made transparent by some sufficiently strong source of light suitably
arranged behind the said part, which can then be ocularly examined, but the result
is very seldom satisfactory.
The method hereinafter described, and the instruments constructed according to
this method, enable the source of light to be introduced into the internal parts or
cavities themselves, so that such parts may be examined either directly or their
reflected image. Lenses or arrangements of lenses for enlarging the field of view
may be employed in combination with the instruments.
The source of light which is employed according to this Invention is a platinum
wire made incandescent by an electric current. The white beat of the said wire is
taken up and made harmless by means of a current of cold water flowing along the
circuit wire. It is evident that, instead of platinum wire, carbon or any other
material having the required electric resistance may be employed.
The annexed Drawings shew the arrangement and construction of several ex-
amining instruments constructed according to this Invention, and which of course
vary in their form according to the anatomical structure of the part of the body to
be examined; but their construction is always based on the same principle, viz.,
the direct (not transparent) illumination of the part to be examined by electric
light and the direct or indirect examination of the part lighted up in this wiso. It
will be readily understood that other instruments than those shewn in the Drawings
and adapted for other parts of the human or animal body may be constructed on
the same principle, and that the instruments shewn can be varied or modified in
detail or in their form and size without however departing from the substanco of
this Invention. In all the Figures of the said Drawings the same letters of refer-
ence denote corresponding or similar parts.
Figures 1 and 2 are longitudinal sections shewing the arrangement and construc-
tion of a urethroscope or instrument for illuminating and examining the urethra ;
Figure 3 is a cross section through the line x, x, in Figure 1.
This instrument consists of a tube A, one end of which is cut obliquely, the other
end forming a funnel B; inside this tube A another small tuber is fixed excen-
trically, as seen in Figure 3. The outer tube A is provided with a groove c, so that
the crescent shaped space between the tubes A and r is divided into two small
channels a and b which cominunicate at the lower end of instrument with each
other and serve as water conduit pipes, water being allowed to enter at a and to
escape at b, or vice versa. The groove C contains the insulated circuit wire d,
which is connected with the platinum wire e forming a loop, the other end of which
is in connection with the metal tube A itself or with another insulated wire d', as
shewn in the Drawing. f is a ferrule of insulating material insulating the free ends
or the circuit wire from the metal body of the instrument.

page_text: When in use, these free ends will be each connected with a pole of the electric
apparatus. If the body of the instrument itself forms a part of the circuit then one
pole is connected with the end of the wire near f, while the other pole may be
brought in contact with any point of the metal instrument to close the circuit.
Figure 4 represents a cylindrical tube which is to be pushed or slid over the
tube A, and whose thickness must correspond with the width of the urethra.
With this instrument introduced into the urethra, not only can diseases or mala-
dies of the latter, in consequence of the intense and harmless illumination, be
exactly examined, but also, owing to the peculiar construction of the instrument, it
is possible to troat such diseases by cauterization or injection, which can be easily
effected through the hollow tube A.
Figures 5 and 6 are longitudinal sections of an electric illuminator for illumina-
ting and examining the urinary bladder; Figure 7 is a cross section through the
line x, x, Figure 6; Figure 8 is a cross section through the line y, y, Figure 6; and
Figure 9 is a small perspective, which, if required, may be introduced into the tube
of this instrument. The instrument resembles substantially the urethroscope before
described; a, b, are the water conduit pipes; c is the insulated tube for the metal
wire e; d is the platinum spiral; B, the funnel shaped enlargement.
Three small pipes a, b, c, are arranged inside the tube A, which, like other
bladder examining instruments, is bent, and provided at the bend with an opening E.
A pane F of crystal, glass, or any other suitable material is inserted into the bent
part of the tube, through which the incandescent platinum wire o throws its light
as soon as the circuit is closed.
The water pipes a, b, of the tube A communicate with the semi-annular space,
Figure 8, formed in the bent part of the tube A¹ by an inner tube g concentrically
arranged within the same. The water flows through this annular space, and
absorbs the heat evolved from the platinum wire e.
If a larger field of view is desired to be examined at once the optical apparatus
shewn in Figure 9, or its equivalent, may be introduced into the tube A.
Figure 10 represents an electric laryngoscope; Figure 11 is a front view of the
same. The bent pipe A carries at one end a case l, through which the two small
water conduit pipes a and b communicate with each other. Within the case / in
its lowest part is arranged the platinum wire c, one end of which is in metallic
contact with the insulated circuit wiro d, whilst the other end is connected with
a wire 8 of German silver, or of any other suitable material, which is at one end
in metallic contact with the case itself. R is a plane mirror reflecting the image
of the illuminated part of the larynx toward the examiner; t is an opening covered
by crystal or glass, through which the light of the incandescent platinum wire is
thrown. The object of the German silver wire 8 is to heat the mirror R, which is
cooled by the water current; the mirror is thus prevented from being made dull
by the breath.
Figures 12 to 18 represent the instrument for illuminating and examining the
oesophagus and the stomach; Figure 13 is a top view, partly in section; Figure 12
is a rear view; Figure 14 shews the instrument when used in combination with
the prism, Figure 18; Figuro 15 shews the instrument when used in combination
with the mirror holder Figure 16 and the mirror Figure 17.
The instrument for illuminating and examining the oesophagus consists of a
flexible articulated metal tube A, inside which are arranged the water pipes a, b,
and the insulated circuit wire d; is the water casing, through which the pipes
a and b communicate with each other. The platinum wire e lies in a recess of the
water casing l, and is connected in the same manner as in the instruments already
described at one end with the metal body of the tube A, whilst its other end is in
metallic connection with the insulated circuit wire d. The second end of this
latter leaves the instrument near m; it is insulated from the metal body of the
instrument by the two discs n and o, and is, when the instrument is in use, put in
connection with one pole of the electric apparatus, the other pole of which is con-
nected with the metal tube itself. The water pipes a, b, may be made of india

page_text: rubber or of any other suitable material. The tube A is composed of inetal rings,
hinged together at p, p, p. The tube is open at the lower end M. and cut
obliquely.
For examining the oesophagus or the pit of the stomach the flexiblo tube A is
introduced through the mouth, and when it has reached the desired depth it is
brought into the position shewn in Figure 14. The light evolved from the in-
candescent platinum wire e passes through the openings M and N and illuminates
the part to be examined.
For observing the image, the prism O, Figures 14 and 18, is pushed into the
tube A, whereby the image is reflected to the eye of the examiner at P. Or the
tube Q, Figures 15 and 16, may be used, which for this purpose is pushed over the
tube A, as shewn; the said tube Q is provided with a groove q, into which the
mirror R, Figures 15 and 17, is placed. The mirror is inclined and forms with the
axis of the tube an angle of 45°, so that the rays of light falling on the mirror
are reflected at an angle of 90°, and reach the eye at P¹.
For examining the side walls of the stomach a mirror forming an angle of 45°
with the axis of the tube A is arranged on the lower end of the said tube,
by which mirror the image will be reflected upon the above mentioned mirror R or
upon the prism Q. To enlarge the field of view, that is, to enable the examiner to
seo at once a larger part of the stomach walls, an optical apparatus may be inserted
into the flexible tube A.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
The construction and employment of instruments or means for examining
internal parts or cavities of the human or animal body, the said instruments pro-
viding for the introduction of the source of light itself into the cavity or part to be
examined, so that the latter is illuminated or lighted directly, and that the same
may be examined through the instrument either directly or by means of an optical
apparatus placed within or upon the instrument, substantially as hereinbefore
described, and shewn in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Clayton Mewburn, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy nine.
J. C. MEWBURN. (L.S).