From the January 2012 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
The following picture and description appear courtesy of Dr. M. Donald Blaufox, M.D., Ph.D, from his
website.
month we visit Dr. Blaufox’s Museum of Historical Medical Artifacts to take a look back at the medical equipment that cleared the way for what patients encounter in the doctor offices and operating rooms of today. Some equipment may be recognizable, while other inventions featured here have since become obsolete or have had their usefulness discredited.
Category: Radiology
Estimated Date: 1900
Name: X-Ray Tube, Transformer
Manufacturer: unknown
Description: Part of desk top X-Ray apparatus. The desktop portion is 4.5" x 24" x 12". It has connectors to the tube, a spark gap and several switches. The tube is 18" with a 6 " bulb and it is symmetrical. There are three connectors and a t-shaped extension from the tube for adjusting the vacuum etc. Portable X-Ray outfits were popular in the early part of the 20th century.Tousey discusses them in some detail in his book from 1910. Reference 187, page 654 . He comments that portable outfits should not contain any piece weighing more than 50 pounds. He suggests that if there is no electricity in the house where it is being used, an electric automobile will generate enough current. The specific tube shown with this outfit is described in the reference below on page 88. It is labeled an American X-Ray tube with asbestos regeneration. They date the tube at around 1900.
