String Galvanometer - History

History

Previous to the string galvanometer, scientists were using a machine called the capillary electrometer to measure the heart’s electrical activity, but this device was unable to produce results of a diagnostic level. Willem Einthoven invented the string galvanometer in the early 20th century, publishing the first registration of its use to record an electrocardiogram in a Festschrift book in 1902. The first human electrocardiogram was recorded in 1887, however it was not until 1901 that a quantifiable result was obtained from the string galvanometer. He was awarded the Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1924 for his work.

Read more about this topic:  String Galvanometer

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    History has neither the venerableness of antiquity, nor the freshness of the modern. It does as if it would go to the beginning of things, which natural history might with reason assume to do; but consider the Universal History, and then tell us,—when did burdock and plantain sprout first?
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Perhaps universal history is the history of the diverse intonation of some metaphors.
    Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)

    This above all makes history useful and desirable: it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions.
    Titus Livius (Livy)