What is an Iron Lung?
Poliomyelitis is a disease that invades the spinal cord and causes paralysis in patients. Which part of the body is paralyzed depends on the nerves that are affected. Polio can even affect a patient's ability to breathe.
Iron lung
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- Western Medicine Name
- polio
- Affiliated Department
- Internal Medicine-Respiratory Medicine
- Main cause
- Paralysis of spinal nerves
- Multiple groups
- Adolescent, newborn
- Contagious
- Non-contagious
- Whether to enter health insurance
- Yes
- Poliomyelitis is a disease that invades the spinal cord and causes paralysis in patients. Which part of the body is paralyzed depends on the nerves that are affected. Polio can even affect a patient's ability to breathe.
- Picture: A premature baby survived with the support of a miniature iron lung. Medical staff closely monitored the temperature and humidity around the baby.
- The lungs do not have their own muscles, they are controlled by the movement of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a thin layer of muscle located between the stomach and lungs. When the diaphragm moves upward, air is squeezed out; when the diaphragm moves downward, air is drawn in. The nerves that control breathing are located in the high part of the neck. If the nerve is attacked by polio virus, the patient may die.
- But Philip Drinck invented the iron lung, and he invented a machine that could make patients breathe. The iron lung is a closed iron box connected to a pump, with the patient's head sticking out. When the air in the iron lungs is sucked out, fresh air enters the patient's lungs; when the pressure in the iron lungs rises, the air in the lungs is squeezed out. Iron lungs save many lives. It was the first machine to replace the functions of human organs.
- The application history of iron lungs is short. When Salk developed an effective polio vaccine, polio was brought under control in the 1950s. Today, there are several less bulky ventilators available for patients who need help breathing.