The Emerson Respirator [i.e. The Iron Lung]

The Iron Lung

1930s -- 1950s

The prototypal 'Emerson Respirator', also known as the "Iron Lung" by many today, was first developed by Dr. Philip Drinker. However, the example featured here was developed by John Emerson, an inventor that worked in the biomedical field, speicalizing in respiratory devices.

The prototypal iron lung was invented in 1928 by Dr. Philip Drinker. Emerson recognized its potential for enhancement and by 1931 succeded in making a quieter, lighter, and more cost-effective model, the one here at Creighton today. By the height of the polio epidemic in the 1940s, hospitals such as Creighton's own St. Joseph's had acquired rows of Emerson's Iron Lung that offered hope to the individuals affected by the devastating polio epidemic.

Polio primarily targeted children by causing muscle paralysis, which most often affected them by rendering them incapable of breathing on their own. Through the 1940s and early 50s the iron lung stood as a beacon of hope by aiding affected individuals when their normal respiratory muscles failed them.

It worked by replicating the movements the patients lungs by regulating the pressure inside of the tank. The patients body would lie inside of the metal tankwhile their heads sat in the clear bubble visible at one of the ends. The regulated pressure would alternate between increasing and decreasing to mimic the movements the patients lungs were no longer capable of, facilitating inhalation and exhalation.

The iron lung began to fall out of popularity starting in 1955 when thankfully, Jonas Salk developed a working vaccine that has provided to following generations protection from polio ever since.