DC -- Natl Museum of Health and Medicine (Walter Reed):
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- Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
- NMHM_090411_007.JPG: Syphilis:
Syphilis is a venereal disease, passed from person to person through direct contact with a syphilis sore. Sores occur mainly on the external genitals, vagina, anus, or in the rectum. Sores can also occur on the lips and mouth. Transmission of the organism occurs during vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Pregnant women with the disease can pass it on to their babies.
Sores, or chanchres [sic], appear on the body and generally are followed by a skin rash and flu-like symptoms. This is the time when the disease is most contagious. If the disease is not treated, it can go into a latency period that is followed by syphilitic degeneration, including spinal deformities, cardiovascular damage, and brain damage that can lead to insanity and death.
Syphilis can be diagnosed through a blood test or biopsy from a chancre. Syphilis is east to cure in its early stages. A single injection of penicillin will cure a person who has had syphilis for less than a year.
- NMHM_090411_013.JPG: This is where the David Macaulay exhibit would come in later
- NMHM_090411_019.JPG: World War I Plaster model of wounds received by patient
- NMHM_090411_037.JPG: Model of skull showing condition upon admission to the Walter Real Army Medical Center.
Global war on terrorism (2001-)
Resin models from CT scan data
On march 29, 2004, a Pennsylvania National Guard sergeant sustained head trauma as a result of a roadside improvised explosive device near Tikrit, Iraq. The explosion damaged the frontal lobe of his brain and destroyed his right eye. A large section of his skull was surgically removed to allow for expansion of the swollen brain. On October 21, 2004, surgeons at Walter Reed Army Medical Center implanted a cranial plate. After multiple operations, the patient is able to walk, talk and is expected to make a near-complete recovery.
- NMHM_090411_097.JPG: Dental X-ray Unit
Ritter Dental Manufacturing Co. Inc, Ca. 1925
When Ritter introduced this unit in the 1920s, dentists rarely took X-rays of their patients due to the complexity and expense involved.
As specialized dental X-ray units made the technology accessible to the average dentist, the procedure became more common. By 1930, 46% of dental school graduates included an X-ray machine in their office when they established their practice.
(Ritter X-Ray unit, ca. 1928. Note exposed electrical wires which could shock a careless dentist or patient.)
- NMHM_090411_108.JPG: Model SC Iron Lung
JH Emerson Co. 1954
A severe polio epidemic in 1931 led John H. Emerson to design this simplified Iron Lung. In extreme cases, polio could affected breathing to such an extent that the victim could starve of oxygen and die.
The iron lung is a sealed tank, in which the patient would lie. Air pressure inside the lung is increased and decreased by a piston-like diaphragm at the foot of the tank. These changes in air pressure expand contract the patient's lungs, drawing in and expelling air in a more-or-less normal manner.
In case of power loss, the iron lung could be operated manually by pumping a handle at its end.
While the iron lung kept people alive, it was never comfortable. Patients complained of claustrophobia. The foam rubber collar that provided a seal around the patient's neck was so constricting that the patient could constantly hear his or her own pulse. Chronic headaches and bruises around the neck were common.
Most patients could be weaned away from the lung within days; many remained dependent on the machine for the rest of their lives.
This machine was used at Walter Reed Army Medical Center between 1954 and 1974.
- NMHM_090411_122.JPG: Fluoroscope
Philips Export Co.
The fluoroscope was developed almost as soon as the utility of X-rays as a diagnostic tool was discovered in the 1890s. With an X-ray source behind the table, the rays passed through the patient and lit up a fluorescent scene in front, allowing the doctor to examine the patient in real time without waiting for photographic film to be exposed and processed.
Unfortunately, long exposure times often proved harmful to patients, and more so to the doctors, the rays passing not only through the patient, but through the fluorescent screen as well. In addition, it was soon found that in most instances, photographic still X-ray pictures were more useful in allowing minute inspection and interpretation.
The machine on display was used by Dr. Irving Feur of Larchmont, New York.
- NMHM_090411_139.JPG: Dermatex Superficial Therapy Unit
Westinghouse X-Ray Co., Inc. 1938
The Superficial Therapy Unit used X-rays to treat skin conditions ranging from epithelioma to lupus to acne.
By the early 1960s, concerns over the safety of radiation have generally limited radiotherapy to the treatment of cancer.
This machine was purchased by Dr. Naomi Kanof when she established her dermatology practice in Washington, DC.
- NMHM_090411_148.JPG: Electrostatic Machine
Waite and Bartlett Co. c 1890
This machine used alternating current (A/C) to power the electric motor that turned a series of glass plates to build up a static charge of direct current (DC) that could be used for electrotherapy electrodes or to power an X-ray tube.
Creating an X-ray could take over an hour due to the low amounts of radiation emitted by the X-ray tube and the intermittent power.
However, early radiologists considered radiation beneficial and were not concerned by the long exposure time.
- NMHM_090411_154.JPG: Shoe Fluoroscope
Adrian Shoe Fitter, Inc. c 1930
This device was used at the Boyce and Lewis shoe store in downtown Washington DC. X-rays of the customer's foot were projected onto a fluoroscopic screen, providing instant reassurance to the customer that his or her shoes fit properly.
Introduced in an era when the hazards of radiation were not widely known, these devices were a health hazard that was ultimately banned by the Food and Drug Administration in 1953.
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