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Medical treatments have come a long way, but these 31 unique devices show how healthcare evolved over the years. From early diagnostic tools to primitive surgical instruments, they reveal a fascinating, if sometimes unsettling, history.
Take a look at these historical pics from the weird side of medical science, and be glad all that our doctors have nowadays are tongue depressors.
Swimming mask for protection from the sun, 1920s
Sun-ray lamp, circa 1930
A stretching device from 1931 that claimed to increase height by 2 to 6 inches.
French machine designed to administer anesthesia, 1913.
An ‘inhaling apparatus’ that acts as an inhaler for medicated vapors. Used for treatment of colds and flus. Circa 1929.
Nitrous oxide inhaled during labor by a woman giving birth. 1939.
A cobalt machine used in radiation therapy for cancer treatment, 1959.
A woman wearing a flu mask in 1919.
An early EKG machine from 1902
An x-ray machine from 1934.
An “Electric Bath” from the 1900s. Used to treat a variety of ailments.
The electroretinogram, used to measure the electric potential of the retina. The photo is from the 1930s, but the machine is still used today
A machine designed to stimulate blood circulation in the legs. 1950s
A rocking horse designed to hold children still for x-rays. 1957.
A WWI-era machine used for electroshock therapy for neurotic patients.
A chest x-ray in progress circa 1914.
A ‘modern’ x-ray machine from 1929
An x-ray treatment machine used in radiotherapy from the 1950s.
A pressure chamber belonging to Winston Churchill. Designed to allow him to make high-altitude flights safely. 1947.
A suit used to measure body temperatures. Used in an experiment to measure the effects of space travel. 1960.
A machine used to measure reflexes of the eyes in an experiment in 1960.
A portable iron lung for use at home, from 1955.
A machine for measuring brain waves, designed and used in 1940.
One of the first surgeries using ether as an anesthetic. Late 1850s.
A machine that used cobalt to attack cancerous tumors, 1955.
Deep Therapy X-Ray machine used to treat cancer, 1960.
“Dr. Clark’s Spinal Apparatus”, a treatment for scoliosis from 1878
Tanning babies to prevent rickets, 1925
Children in an iron lung, 1937
Plague doctor masks. These were thought to protect doctors when treating patients with the Black Plague
Cart-style wheelchair from 1915
