General Information

Serial #

prototype

Part Number

3

Total Parts

10

AKA

artificial kidney machine

Patents

N/A

General Description

Upper & lower head pieces are chrome-plated steel: inner areas, bolts and inlet & outlet ports have dull silver metal finish; bright silver metal [chrome-plated brass] blood and dialysate chambers; red-brown rubber gaskets; and clear and opaque cellophane sheets.

Dimensions

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

Length

21.0 cm

Width

9.0 cm

Height

22.7 cm

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

To filter harmful impurities from blood, before returning it to patient.

Technical

Dr. Walter Roschlau worked with Murray at the W.P. Caven Research Foundation on the design of the second generation artificial kidney machine. One of the most significant features of the later model was the parallel plate design of the dialyzer. Roschlau experimented with flow patterns, volume requirements, the dialyzing membrane surfaces and the production of multiples of blood and dialysate chambers before settling on this design. Compact and more robust than the earlier coil dialyzer, this version had an enlarged surface area and reduced blood-volume requirements. [Ref. 8] It consists of 2 head pieces, between which are mounted repeating dialyzing units: each of these units is composed of blood chamber, dialysate chamber, rubber gaskets, and cellophane dialyzing sheets. [see 2002.0620.4-.10]

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

"BLOOD/ OUT/ FLUID" printed in black grease pencil on tape label applied to head piece, below ports. UHN catalogue no. "994.1.18" printed by hand in black ink in lower right corner of plate. "BLOOD/ IN/ FLUID" printed in black grease pencil on tape label applied to opposing head piece.

Missing

Unknown.

Finish

Upper & lower head pieces are chrome-plated steel: inner areas, bolts and inlet & outlet ports have dull silver metal finish; bright silver metal [chrome-plated brass] blood and dialysate chambers; red-brown rubber gaskets; and clear and opaque cellophane sheets.

Decoration

N/A