Glenn Allan Millikan
Glenn Allan Millikan | |
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Born | Lord Adrian | May 23, 1906
Glenn Allan Millikan (May 23, 1906 – May 25, 1947)
Early life
Millikan, son of physicist
Career
In early 1940,
The earpiece of Millikan's oximeter (an open photocell-lamp assembly manufactured commercially by Coleman Electric) contained an incandescent light bulb, a set of red and green filters, and a selenium barrier level photocell.[5] According to Millikan's early statements, light absorbance of green light was independent of blood oxygen level, absorbance of red light depended on it.[6] However, in 1942 it was found that the flesh of human ear absorbs almost all green light. "Green light" sensed by Millikan's photocell was actually invisible infrared light emitted by the lamp and unaffected by green filter.[6]
Millikan's wartime work outlined three basic problems of oximetry: absence of suitable theory, inability to differentiate between blood and other tissues in the path of light, and inability to differentiate between arterial, venous and capillary blood, of which only arterial blood was relevant to oxygen measurement.[7] Millikan's own solutions to these challenges were poor.[7] The third problem was solved by "fully flushing" the earlobe by heating it with the light bulb. The second one was not an issue in RAF breathing sets because they supplied pure oxygen. Calibration of the device for a patient breathing pure oxygen was quite straightforward.[7]
In 1946, Millikan became head of the Department of Physiology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.[8]
Death
In 1938, Millikan married Frances Clare Leigh-Mallory, daughter of George Mallory, the mountaineer who died while climbing Mount Everest.[6] In 1947 Millikan himself was killed by a falling rock while climbing "Buzzard's Roost" near Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee.[9]
After his death his parents sponsored a series of Glenn Millikan lectures at Vanderbilt.[10]
References
- ^ "Tennessee, Death Records, 1914-1955". State Library and Archives, Tennessee. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
- ^ a b c Severinghaus and Astrup, p. 276.
- ^ a b Zijstra et al., p. 244.
- ^ a b c d e f g Severinghaus and Astrup, p. 277.
- ^ Zijstra, p. 245.
- ^ a b c Severinghaus and Astrup, p. 278.
- ^ a b c Zijstra et al., p. 246.
- ^ "Glenn Allan Millikan Biographical File". www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/diglib. VUMC Historical Images and Biographies. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
- ^ "Accident Reports". American Alpine Journal. 7 (1). The American Alpine Club: 100. April 1948.
- ^ Register of Vanderbilt University. Vanderbilt University. 1953. p. 380. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
Sources
- Severinghaus, John W.; .
- Zijlstra, Willem G. et al. (2000). Visible and near infrared absorption spectra of human and animal haemoglobin: determination and application. VSP. ISBN 90-6764-317-3.
External links
Albert F. Gunns (January 20, 1981). "Interview with Clare Mallory Millikan". oralhistories.library.caltech.edu. California Institute of Technology Archives. Retrieved November 6, 2014.