Radio Detector for Surgeon Spots Metal in Wounds

Item

Pearl Harbor saw the first use of a radio instrument for locating metal fragments in wounds. Col John J. Moorhead of New York happened to be lecturing to physicians in Honolulu when the Japanese attack occurred. Taking with him the new instruments, he accompanied the doctors to the Schofield Barracks hospital where the radio detector located shell fragments or bullets in 20 patients that day and proved the absence of metal pieces in many others. Quicker and less costly than the X-ray, it does its job in a few minutes. It consists of a radio-frequency circuit mounted in a box, with a movable coil attached by a wire and enclosed in a steel finger. The finger is one-half inch in diameter and 12 inches long, water-tight and its wire rubber-clad for detaching and sterilizing. As the indicator approaches a piece of hidden metal the milliammeter shows it by a deflection. The indicator is moved around the wound in two planes at right angles to spot the exact position of the foreign body. It can be introduced directly into the wound if necessary. The instrument weighs only ten pounds.

Title (Dublin Core): Radio Detector for Surgeon Spots Metal in Wounds
Subject (Dublin Core): en Technology; en Medical techniques and tools
Article Title and/or Image Caption (Dublin Core): Radio Detector for Surgeon Spots Metal in Wounds
Language (Dublin Core): Eng
Temporal Coverage (Dublin Core): [–][+]World War II
Date Issued (Dublin Core): 1942-04
Is Part Of (Dublin Core): Popular Mechanics, vol. 77, n. 4, 1942
pages (Bibliographic Ontology): 54
Rights (Dublin Core): Public domain
Source (Dublin Core): Google books
References (Dublin Core): [–][+]Pearl Harbor; [–][+]New York City; [–][+]Honolulu; [–][+]Japan; [–][+]Schofield Barracks; [–][+]X-ray
Archived by (Dublin Core): Enrico Saonara

Item sets: Wars of Wonders; full text

Media: Radio Detector for Surgeon Spots Metal in Wounds