Heidbrink Anesthetizer Model T

Catalog Record: Heidbrink Anesthetizer Model T

Access Key: aiqe
Accession No.: 1964-02-28-1 B

Title: Heidbrink [anesthetizer] model T / [designed by Jay A. Heidbrink].

Author: Heidbrink, Jay A., 1875-1957.

Title variation: Alt Title
Title: Dental outift model T.

Title variation: Alt Title
Title: Heidbrink automatic anesthetizer.

Publisher: Minneapolis, Minn.: Heidbrink Co. [1918-1938].

Physical Description: 1 anesthesia delivery apparatus : metals (including nickel plating). glass, 22 x 39 x 38 cm.

Subject: Anesthesia, Inhalation.
Subject: Anesthesia, Dental.
Subject: Anesthesia Machines.
Subject: Nitrous Oxide.
Subject: Oxygen.
Subject: Ethylenes.
Subject: Carbon Dioxide.
Subject: World War I.

Note Type: General
Notes: Title from manufacturer markings on the object and an instruction manual
published by The Heidbrink Company in the 1920s.

Note Type: With
Notes: The apparatus is on a cast-iron stand with four legs and wheels; The stand is
painted dark maroon and has the Heidbrink logo and markings.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Heidbrink JA, inventor. Apparatus for delivering a mixture of gases. US
patent 1,265,910. May 14, 1918.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Heidbrink JA. Memoirs (continued). Newsmonthly. 1957;4(5):16-17.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Instructions for operating the Heidbrink model T anesthetizer using nitrous
oxid, oxygen, ether ethylene, carbon dioxide for anesthesia and analgesia.
Minneapolis, Minn.: Heidbrink Co., [1920s].

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Mead SV. Anesthesia in Dental Surgery. St. Louis: Mosby, 1951:391-396.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Seldin HM. Practical Anesthesia for Dental and Oral surgery: Local and
General. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger, 1934:364-368.

Note Type: Physical Description
Notes: An apparatus to administer anesthesia consisting of two pressure-reducing, or
regulating, valves, a central volume control valve and mixing chamber, an
emergency valve, three pressure gauges, a timer, five gas-tank yolks, and a
carbon-dioxide attachment; Manufacturer markings on the back of the central
volume control valve include, “PATENTED MAY 14, 1918 [new line] THE HEIDBRINK
CO. [new line] MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. U.S.A. [new line] OTHER PATENTS PENDING”;
Manufacturer markings on the front of the valve include the logo (“HI-CO”
within a framing double-line design), and “GALLONS N2O PER MINUTE”; On a new
line are the markings “SHUT” and “FORCE”, and the numbers 1-5 with tick-marks
marking half values between the numbers; Manufacturer markings in the upper
quarter of the emergency valve include “MODEL T” and the logo; Markings of
the right side of the emergency valve include “NITROUS OXID” with two
diamond-shaped arrows below, one pointing to “BAG OPEN” and the other to “BAG
SHUT”; Markings in the lower quarter of the emergency valve include a
diamond-arrow indicating “NORMAL OPERATION” and one indicating “BAG SHUT”;
Markings on the left include “OXYGEN” with two diamond-shaped arrows below,
one pointing to “BAG OPEN” and the other to “BAG SHUT”; The pressure gauge
just behind and to the left of the mixing chamber and valve is marked,
“OXYGEN PERCENTAGE GAUGE” and with the trademark or logo for the U.S. Gauge
Co. of New York; The pressure gauge just behind and to the right of the
mixing chamber and valve is marked, “”ETHYLENE” and “NITROUS OXIDE”; Mounted
above this gauge is a stopwatch; Markings on the pressure-gauge for the
carbon-dioxide attachment on the left side of the apparatus include “GALLONS
PER HOUR” and “CARBON DIOXIDE”; Two of the gas-tank yokes are located in the
front of the apparatus and three are in the back.

Note Type: Acquisition
Notes: Donated to the WLM by St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital, Chicago, IL.

Note Type: Reproduction
Notes: Photographed by Mr. William Lyle, Sept. 23, 2010; Photographed with tubing
and gas tanks (or cylinders) not original to the apparatus; The green tank
represents oxygen, the blue nitrous oxide, and the red ethylene.

Note Type: Historical
Notes: The Anesthetizer, very popular for dental anesthesia, was one of the early
machines to allow the provider improved control over the concentration of
nitrous oxide and oxygen administered. Heidbrink applied to patent the
‘Anesthetizer’ in 1912 and named the first version “Model A”. Noteworthy
changes were marked by an update in the name to the next letter in the
alphabet, ending at the Model T (Heidbrink, 1957;4(5)). The model T was
replaced by the Simplex Dental Model in 1938 (Heidbrink, 1957;4(5)).
Descriptions of the Model T can be found in Sterling Mead’s Anesthesia in
Dental Surgery, and Harry Seldin’s Practical Anesthesia for Dental and Oral
Surgery (see citations for publishers and dates).

Note Type: Historical
Notes: Jay A. Heidbrink was a dentist who began his career of creating innovative
anesthesia equipment by remodeling a Teter nitrous oxide apparatus that he
purchased for his own dental practice (Heidbrink, 1957;4(3)). The company he
founded and ran made a variety of anesthetic equipment. The Heidbrink Co. was
acquired by the Ohio Chemical & Manufacturing Co. in the late 1930s. As a
manufacturer and lecturer he developed professional and personal
relationships with a number of well-respected anesthesiologists, including
Doctors Elmer I. McKesson, Arthur Guedel, Ralph Waters and John Lundy
(Heidbrink, 1957).

Note Type: Publication
Notes: Heidbrink JA, inventor. Apparatus for delivering a mixture of gases. Reissued
US patent 15,874. July 22, 1924.