{"id":263,"date":"2010-11-05T17:54:03","date_gmt":"2010-11-05T17:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tmcldev.wpengine.com\/mcgovern\/2010\/11\/05\/sanborn-viso-cardiette-model-51\/"},"modified":"2019-08-30T18:02:08","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T18:02:08","slug":"sanborn-viso-cardiette-model-51","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.tmc.edu\/mcgovern\/2010\/11\/05\/sanborn-viso-cardiette-model-51\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanborn Viso Cardiette model 51"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alethea Drexler<\/strong>
\nArchives assistant<\/em>
\nPhil Montgomery is setting up a display of vintage medical machines today in the main library.\u00a0 I thought I’d share one of them with our blog readers.\u00a0 If you’re in the library, I hope you’ll go see it in person.
\nThis is the Sanborn Viso-Cardiette, model 51, a portable (“portable” as long as you want an upper-body workout.\u00a0 It’s all-metal and very heavy) electrocardiograph<\/a>, which is a machine that creates a “print-out” of a heartbeat.\u00a0 For a brief history of electrocardiography, go here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(Click on the pictures for larger versions.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Its manufacturing company was founded by Frank Sanborn in 1917 and was bought out by Hewlett-Packard in 1961.
\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sanborn Viso Cardiette model 51<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nI found dozens of these on online sales and auction sites, so they must have been widely used.
\nThe\u00a0 control panel is beautiful: Shiny black with gold lettering (ignore the white blotch near the right-hand dial.\u00a0 Something was spilled on it and we haven’t yet figured out how to clean it safely).\u00a0 I couldn’t find a way to photograph it effectively, but the numbers on the two large dials are actually painted on black backgrounds and then covered by a layer of Lucite, or some other clear material, to make them look three-dimensional.\u00a0 It has everything except tail fins.
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The control panel<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThere is a small tray in the lid that drops down and holds the ECG leads and other small accessories.\u00a0 The coiled things on the far right are rubber straps which were used to hold the leads in place.
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The attachments<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nHere is a closer look at the stylus.\u00a0 This is the “needle” that drew the ECG on the paper.\u00a0 Styluses also draw lines for lie detectors<\/a> and seismographs<\/a>.
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The stylus<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThese are the controls for the stylus (this is under the Viso nameplate between the two dials), which allow the user to make sure the stylus is centered on the paper and is the correct temperature and pressure to make a good-quality image.
\nThere are lots of address labels inside this particular machine.\u00a0 Some of them predate ZIP codes, which were introduced in 1963, and seven-digit phone numbers, but some don’t, which makes me wonder if this was re-sold as a used instrument at least once in its life.
\n
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The stylus controls<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nIf you open the door in the side of the case, you can see where to insert the roll of paper.\u00a0 You can also see more address labels.
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Load the paper roll here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThe earliest reliable reference we found to this model of ECG was in a 1950 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.\u00a0 Journal references ran through the 1950’s and into the mid-1960’s, and they were used on both people and animals (which doesn’t surprise me: The EGC we used when I worked for the veterinarian was a 1970’s model acquired secondhand from a pediatrician).
\nIn the process of searching for more information, we ran across this advertisement from the August 6, 1954 issue of “Science” magazine.\u00a0 It features the model 51 at the top right corner.\u00a0 The fourth instrument from the top is a Sanborn Twin-Beam Cardiette oscilloscope, which was used to amplify heart sounds; the McGovern archive has one of those, too.
\n
\"\"<\/a>
1954 advertisement<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThe Viso-Cardiette in real life:
\n1) PubMed, reference only: Journal of the American Medical Association, 1950 Aug 26;143(17):1487.\u00a0 “SANBORN viso-cardiette, model 51, accepted<\/a>.”\u00a0 Here is a .pdf version<\/a> of the page in question, with a picture of the Cardiette.
\n2) Wiley Online Library, abstract: Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Volume 51, Issue 4, pages 372\u2013374, April 1962. “Sensitization of the pigeon to epinephrine-induced ventricular fibrillation by a substituted propriophenone<\/a>.”
\n3) Circ.ahajournals.org via HAM-TMC Library: Circulation, Volume XX, November 1959. “Electrocardiogram of the Healthy Adult Negro<\/a>.” (.pdf)
\n4) Journal of Nutrition via HAM-TMC Library: Journal of Nutrition, Volume 82, 1964. “Hypertension and Vascular Abnormalities in Starved-Refed Swine<\/a>.”\u00a0 (.pdf)
\n5) Another model 51<\/a> owned by the Oregon Health & Science University.\u00a0 Actually, the OHSU Historical Collections and Archives keeps a very nice medical history blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alethea Drexler Archives assistant Phil Montgomery is setting up a display of vintage medical machines today in the main library.\u00a0 I thought I’d share one of them with our blog readers.\u00a0 If you’re in the library, I hope you’ll go see it in person. This is the Sanborn Viso-Cardiette, model 51, a portable (“portable” […]<\/p>\n

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