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LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseCase of Middelsdorpf galvanocautery instruments, about 1870
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Case of Middelsdorpf galvanocautery instruments, about 1870
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Case of Middelsdorpf galvanocautery instruments, about 1870
Galvanocautery instruments are used in delicate surgery where using a knife was impossible. An electric current is passed through the instruments, often along a wire between two prongs. This wire heats up and can cut through tissue. Galvanocautery instruments are used in dental surgery, operations within the nose and throat, or anywhere requiring delicate ‘hard-to-reach’ surgery. The instruments were invented by Albrect Theodar Middelsdorpf. They appear to have been owned by an E. Prichel who used them in Breslau, Germany. The technique was developed in France in the 1850s.
Cautery, brass, with ebony and ivory handle and ceramic tip
Cautery, brass with pointed tip, handle ivory
Cautery, with pointed tip, curved, brass, handle ivory
Cautery handle and plug, handle ivory, brass leads
Wire adjuster, ebony handle, metal cautery
Wire adjuster, ivory
Brass cautery, handle ebony and ivory
Cautery, brass, with beaked tip, handle ebony
Cautery handle, ebony and ivory, leads brass
Brass cautery, straight handle, ebony and ivory, leads brass
Brass binding screw
Binding screw, brass
