General Information

Serial #

prototype

Part Number

6

Total Parts

10

AKA

artificial kidney machine dialyzer

Patents

N/A

General Description

cellophane (stored inside mylar envelope)

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

19.5 cm

Width

8.4 cm

Height

N/A

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Medical Technology

Category

Medical equipment

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Murray Roschlau

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Toronto

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

Used c. 1951-1953.

Canada

Second artificial kidney designed and manufactured by Drs. Gordon Murray and Walter Roschlau at W.P Caven Research Foundation, Toronto c. 1951-1953. It was used experimentally in his laboratory on Holmwood Ave. (site of the CRV) and once for emergency treatment on a patient suffering kidney failure at Toronto General Hospital. [Ref.4] Murray's second-generation machine was an improvement from the original: it's design features made it more compact and efficient, easier to handle, set-up and use, and less intimidating for both patient and hospital staff. [Ref. 8] Murray abandoned his renal dialysis research c. 1954 . Murray was a remarkable surgeon and innovator whose work earned him international recognition. In the 1930s Dr. Murray introduced the anticoagulant Heparin to world clinical practice; in the '40s he developed the first artificial kidney in North America; and in 1955 he performed the first successful transplant of a human heart valve. Unfortunately, these achievements are often overshadowed by his later, controversial work on an anti-cancer serum, and on unconventional surgery for injuries caused by traumatic paraplegia. (2002.0619 Ref. 3]

Function

Part of assembled filter unit of artificial kidney machine.

Technical

Within dialyzer, cellophane sheet is sandwiched between a rubber gasket and and blood chamber: two cellophane sheets are arranged in this way in each dialyzing unit. The cellophane dialyzing sheets are made of sausage casing supplied by C.A. Pemberton & Co. Ltd. (1953), Toronto. When dry, they are cut to the size of the blood frames. Because cellophane has a tendency to expand slightly when wet, the required number of sheets is then soaked in water. Covered with a blood frame for full immersion, the soaking sheets [n their water bath] are autoclaved. After cooling, a blood frame template is positioned over the stacked wet sheets, and eight holes punched with a sharp cork borer. The still-wet sheets are placed in a suitable container filled with water, and autoclaved again for storage. Cellophane (Pemberton W x 24) is impermeable to bacteria and viruses, so dialysate [solution] does not require sterilization for use. [Ref. 5]

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

UHN catalogue no. "994.18.1" printed by hand in black ink in one corner .

Missing

None.

Finish

Unknown

Decoration

N/A