Philip Drinker
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Philip Drinker (December 12, 1894 - October 19, 1972)He was born in Haverford, Pennsylvania. Philip Drinker was an inventor of the iron lung, along with Louis Agassiz Shaw. The iron lung is a respirator; he also devised a small chamber for maintaining respiration in newborn babies. When Philip Drinker was studying the hazard of exposure to lead and dust he developed the iron lung. In the 1940's-50's the iron lung saved a lot of people during the polio outbreaks. The people that were in the iron lung had polio. The iron lung is composed of a cylindrical steel drum, which encloses the entire body with only the head exposed. Today there are roughly 200-300 hundred iron lungs. There were several problems with the iron lung, such as food or vomit were at times inhaled in to the lungs.
[edit] Historical Trends
During the 1940's and 1950's polio was a common disease, mostly affecting children. At that time, there was not much that could be done to help them. Since then the medical field has advanced.
[edit] Afterthought
Philip Drinker's iron lung impacted the science field in many ways. It brought about new ideas for treating lung diseases, as well as ways to treat polio. Additionally, it also helped to make new machines and improvements.
