Filming Surgery in 1957
January 28, 2011 § Leave a comment
CC-BY National Museum of Health & Medicine. Click for larger version.
The last week I have been in contact with the kind people of the Otis Historical Archives at the National Museum of Health & Medicine regarding a post I’m writing. In the process they dug up this very interesting photo from an OR in 1957. « Read the rest of this entry »
The OR Before CCTV
January 18, 2011 § 2 Comments
Click to see larger version.
From the March 1948 issue of Mechanix Illustrated:
Telescopes and mirror give many eyes a close-up view of a delicate cataract operation which heretofore could be observed by only one or two. It happened in Doctors’ Hospital, L. A.
I can’t help but think that they wrestled for the best places, and that those in front (who obviously won) must be orthopedists. Who else would have the muscle to subdue a whole gang of ophthalmologists? But then again, why are they interested in a cataract operation?
Hat tip to Modern Mechanix.
Lunch with a Burn Surgeon
November 4, 2010 § 2 Comments
Color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph of a meshed skin graft over a burn. Photo from the Wellcome Collection.
I’ve recently found the podcast treasure that is the Wellcome Collection’s Packed Lunch, a series of interviews with British scientists from different fields. Especially interesting is a podcast featuring burn surgeon Isabel Jones. « Read the rest of this entry »
The Other Side of the Lens
October 11, 2010 § 5 Comments
Photo by Robert Peinert © All rights reserved.
Guest post by Robert Peinert
For the past two years, I worked as a medical photographer and videographer during my graduate studies. While I primarily worked for a general surgery department, I often found myself documenting orthopedic and neurosurgical cases as well, in part due to my boss’ involvement with these other departments. Because of my background – mother was a nurse, father is an orthopedic surgeon – I have spent some time in and around operating rooms and surgeons’ clinics, allowing me to become familiar with the general instruments and supplies used in any case. Because of this, while photographing or filming, I would be often asked to grab something – usually gauze or sterile towels, etc….you know, the simple, everyday stuff. « Read the rest of this entry »
Medical Photos from Victorian Ireland
September 28, 2010 § 2 Comments
A collection of photographs of patients treated by Victorian surgeon Edward Stamer O’Grady is reproduced for the first time in the latest issue of the Scope medical magazine. See the photos, all from the vast Burns Archive and read the story behind them below.
The cover photo, with its creative use of a mirror to show the posterior view of the shoulder, is absolutely stunning!
Hat tip to Morbid Anatomy.
After the Curtain
September 7, 2010 § 7 Comments
Medical Photography Section , University of Oslo © All rights reserved.
This photo of an operating theatre at Rikshospitalet national hospital ca. 1900 is one of my absolute favorites from our archives. Even though the lights are out and the room empty, there’s an intense atmosphere to it. You can almost see the surgeons and the eager students. The light falling on the wall, the wet floor and the wheeled table that’s slightly out of balance with the rest of the room. Very dramatic.
Wish I had more details about it, but even the photographer is unknown.
Before a Live Studio Audience
August 31, 2010 § 1 Comment
In an effort to bring surgery back into the public domain, the Wellcome Collection in London arranged a Live Surgery event last year, broadcasting live open heart surgery to an audience of 200 lay people.
It’s interesting to hear people’s expectations and reactions in this short clip from the event. It reminds of the time when I showed the start of a prostatectomy video to my grandparents once. When I stopped it after a minute or so saying “So that’s what I do for a living”, they yelled “Don’t stop, we got to see how it ends!”.
Surgery sure is intriguing.
Harvey Cushing’s Patients
August 26, 2010 § Leave a comment
Credit: The Harvey Cushing Brain Tumor Registry, Cushing/Whitney Medical Library.
Head over to the New York Times to see a selection of photos from the collection of almost 10,000 glass plate negatives of patients treated by Dr. Harvey Cushing between 1902 and 1933. « Read the rest of this entry »
Better and Complications
July 12, 2010 § 4 Comments
Atul Gawande scrubbing for surgery. Photo from gawande.com.
“How helpless human newborn babies are,” my wife commented as we were watching some TV programme about surrogate mothers. “I read something really interesting about that recently,” I said, and realized I’d just referenced something I’d read in “Better” or “Complications” by Atul Gawande for the umpteenth time that week. « Read the rest of this entry »
White Scrubs Only
July 5, 2010 § 4 Comments
"Green scrubs only". Photo by Øystein Horgmo © All rights reserved.
A man was sitting on a bench outside the hospital, chatting with a friend in the warm summer sun. He was wearing green scrubs, green shoes, surgical cap and a mask around his neck.
Although it’s explicitly stated in the hospital’s infection prevention guidelines that it’s forbidden to wear green scrubs outside the operating ward, it’s a common sight in the cafeteria, outpatient clinics and hallways. Even outside in the sun. Why? « Read the rest of this entry »
The Sterile Eye 