Willem Einthoven

Willem Einthoven (May 21, 1860 – September 29, 1927) was a Dutch doctor and physiologist. He invented the first practical electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) in 1903 and received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1924 for it. Image File history File links Einthoven. ... Image File history File links Einthoven. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (142nd in leap years). ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years). ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Physiology (in Greek physis = nature and logos = word) is the study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms. ... Lead II An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG, abbreviated from the German Elektrokardiogramm) is a graphic produced by an electrocardiograph, which records the electrical voltage in the heart in the form of a continuous strip graph. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine from 1901 to the present day. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Einthoven was born in Semarang on Java in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). His father, a medical doctor, died when Einthoven was a child. His mother returned to the Netherlands with her children in 1870 and settled in Utrecht. In 1885, Einthoven received a medical degree from the University of Utrecht. He became a professor at the University of Leiden in 1886. Semarang is a city on the north coast of the island of Java, Indonesia. ... Java (Indonesian, Javanese, and Sundanese: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia, and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. ... The Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, (Dutch: Nederlands-Indië) was the name of the colonies set up by the Dutch East India Company, which came under administration of the Netherlands during the 19th century (see Indonesia). ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Utrecht ( (help· info)) is a municipality and the capital city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. ... Utrecht University (Universiteit Utrecht in Dutch) is a university in Utrecht, The Netherlands. ... Leiden University in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ...

Before Einthoven's time, it was known that the beating of the heart produced electrical currents, but the instruments of the time could not accurately measure this phenomenon without placing electrodes directly on the heart. Beginning in 1901, Einthoven completed a series of prototypes of a string galvanometer. This device used a very thin filament of conductive wire passing between very strong electromagnets. When a current passed through the filament, the elctromagnetic field would cause the string to move. A light shining on the string would cast a shadow on a moving roll of photographic paper, thus forming a continuous curve showing the movement of the string. The original machine required water cooling for the powerful electromagnets, required 5 people to operate it and weighed some 600 lb. This device increased the sensitivity of the standard galvanometer so that the electrical activity of the heart could be measured despite the insulation of flesh and bones. 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The String galvanometer was one of the earliest instruments capable of detecting and recording the very small electrical currents produced by the human heart and provided the first practical Electrocardiogram (ECG). ... An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by a flow of electric current. ... It has been suggested that Tangent galvanometer be merged into this article or section. ...

An early ECG device

Although later technological advances brought about better and more portable EKG devices, much of the terminology used in describing an EKG originated with Einthoven. His assignment of the letters P, Q, R, S and T to the various deflections is still used. The term "Einthoven's triangle" is named for him. It refers to the imaginary inverted equilateral triangle centered on the chest and the points being the standard leads on the arms and leg. Image File history File links I think this is public domain by now, not completely sure, as I couldnt find out who the author is. ... Image File history File links I think this is public domain by now, not completely sure, as I couldnt find out who the author is. ...

After his development of the string galvanometer, Einthoven went on to describe the electrocardiographic features of a number of cardiovascular disorders. Later in life, Einthoven turned his attention to the study of acoustics. Heart disease is one of a number of different diseases which afflict the heart. ... A schematic representation of hearing. ...

He died in Leiden in the Netherlands and is buried in the graveyard of the Reformed Church at 6 Haarlemmerstraatweg in Oegstgeest^[1]. Leyden redirects here. ... Oegstgeest (population: 21,188 in 2004) is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. ...

References

• ↑  Van Ditzhuijzen, Jeannette (September 9 2005). Bijna vergeten waren ze, de rustplaatsen van roemruchte voorvaderen. Trouw (Dutch newspaper), p. 9 of supplement.
• Nobel Lectures, Physiology or Medicine 1922-1941, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1965.

External links

• Nobel prize citation
• Einthoven's triangle