Willem Einthoven
Willem Einthoven | |
---|---|
University of Utrecht | |
Known for |
|
Awards | University of Leiden |
Willem Einthoven (21 May 1860 – 29 September 1927) was a
Early life and education
Willem Einthoven was born in
Career
He became a professor at the
In 1902, he became a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.[6]
He died in Leiden in the Netherlands and is buried in the graveyard of the Reformed "Green Church" (Groene Kerk) at 6 Haarlemmerstraatweg in Oegstgeest. It is encouraged to visit his grave and pay respects.[7]
Work
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 magnetic field created by the current 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 five people to operate it and weighed some 270 kilograms. 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. This invention allowed transthoracic electrocardiography.[citation needed]
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 are still used. The term
After his development of the string galvanometer, Einthoven went on to describe the electrocardiographic features of a number of
In 1924, Einthoven was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for inventing the first practical system of electrocardiography used in medical diagnosis.[1]
Legacy
On 21 May 2019, on Einthoven's 159th birthday, he was honored with a Google Doodle.[9]
References
- ^ a b "Willem Einthoven". IEEE Global History Network. IEEE. Archived from the original on 7 July 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2011. original URL now redirects to https://ethw.org/Willem_Einthoven
- ^ Epen, Didericus Gijsbertus van (21 May 2019). "Nederland's patriciaat". Centraal bureau voor genealogie en heraldick. Retrieved 21 May 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ The Walbeek Family from Holland:Information about Louise Marie Mathilde Carolien de Vogel. Familytreemaker.genealogy.com (1927-09-29). Retrieved on 2012-07-25. original URL redirects to https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/w/a/l/Theodorus-J-Walbeek/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0191.html
- ^ I6359: Valcherius BOREL (dates unknown). Rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved on 2012-07-25. original URL redirects to http://sites.rootsweb.com/~chevaud/vevay/d0000/g0000021.html#I3651
- PMID 18612490.
- ^ "Willem Einthoven (1860–1927)". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
- ^ Van Ditzhuijzen, Jeannette (8 September 2005). Bijna vergeten waren ze, de rustplaatsen van roemruchte voorvaderen. Altvoorde knapt de graven op. Trouw (Dutch newspaper), p. 9 of supplement.
- PMID 18164799. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
- ^ "Who was William Einthoven and why did he win a Nobel Prize?". The Independent. 2019-05-20. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
Further reading
- Snellen, Herman Adrianus (1995), Willem Einthoven (1860–1927) Father of Electrocardiography, Life and Work, Ancestors and Contemporaries, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, ISBN 0-7923-3274-1
- Shouldice R, Bass G (2002), "From Bench to Bedside – Developments in Electrocardiology" (PDF), The Engineers Journal, Institution of Engineers of Ireland, 56 (4): 47–49, archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-25
- The Einthoven Foundation Cardiology Information Portal Historical pictures
- Willem Einthoven on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture on December 11, 1925 The String Galvanometer and the Measurement of the Action Currents of the Heart
- Einthoven's triangle
- Bibliography in the Virtual Laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
- Museum Boerhaave Negen Nederlandse Nobelprijswinnaars
- A.M. Luyendijk-Elshout, Einthoven, Willem (1860–1927), in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland. original URL redirects to http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/bwn1880-2000/lemmata/bwn2/einthoven
- Biography Willem Einthoven (1860–1927) at the National Library of the Netherlands
- Moukabary, T (2007). "Willem Einthoven (1860–1927): Father of electrocardiography". Cardiology Journal. 14 (3): 316–317. PMID 18651479.
External links
- Works by or about Willem Einthoven at Internet Archive
- Willem Einthoven’s 159th Birthday – Google Doodle