Two years ago. a young medical researcher assisting at an operation near the phrenic nerve (which runs from the brain to the diaphragm), got a new idea from watching a well-known reaction. When stimulated, the phrenic nerve makes the diaphragm contract, causing abdominal breathing. Why is it not possible, Dr. Stanley J. Sarnoff asked himself, to stimulate the nerve rhythmically, perhaps electrically, to provide artificial respiration for patients whose breathing apparatus has been upset?
Last week, the Harvard School of Public Health, which in 1929 developed the Drinker respirator (iron lung) for victims...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
