General Information

Serial #

prototype

Part Number

2

Total Parts

6

AKA

artificial kidney machine

Patents

N/A

General Description

synthetic cover disk; woven fabric covering on metal electrical wires; metal (including copper), glass, rubber and synthetic components.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

N/A

Width

N/A

Height

53.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

30.0 cm

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Medical Technology

Category

Research

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Murray

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Toronto

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

Used 1946- 1947.

Canada

First artificial kidney machine made in North America by Dr. Gordon Murray, simultaneously and independently of Willem Kolff's invention in Holland in the 1940s. Designed and built by Murray himself, it was used successfully on four patients at Toronto General Hospital, 1946-47. Murray was a remarkable surgeon and innovator whose work earned him international recognition. In the 1930s Dr. Murray introduced the anticoagulant Heparin to world clinical practice; in the '40s he developed the first artificial kidney in North America; and in 1955 he performed the first successful transplant of a human heart valve. Unfortunately, these achievements are often overshadowed by his later, controversial work on an anti-cancer serum, and on unconventional surgery for injuries caused by traumatic paraplegia. (Ref. 3]

Function

To house elements of artificial kidney filter, and cover and protect contents of dialysing bath.

Technical

Bath jar cover incorporated thermometer, heating element and stirring rod used to govern the dialysate [solution] through which the blood was circulated. [Ref. 3] The temperature controls were necessary to maintain the patient's blood temperature outside the body. The stirrer was used to ensure constant movement of dialysate solution during dialysis. Cover with temperature controls and stirrer appears to have been used again in earliest version of Murray & Roschlau's artificial kidney machine. [see 2002.0620]

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Control dial face on cover top marked "Ferranti", with scale labelled "1", "LOW" through "7" ,"HIGH" and graduated in tenths.

Missing

Unknown.

Finish

Dark brown synthetic cover disk; medium brown fabric covering on metal electrical wires; metal, clear glass, red and black rubber, and synthetic components.

Decoration

N/A