Waters To-and-Fro CO2 Absorber
Dublin Core
Title
Waters To-and-Fro CO2 Absorber
Subject
Anesthesia, Inhalation
Carbon Dioxide Absorber
Waters, Ralph Milton, 1883-1979
Description
Within anesthesia machines, delivery of the anesthetic to the patient’s airway is the job of the “breathing system” which incorporates a mask or a tracheal tube. Dr. Ralph Waters (1883–1979) introduced this simple device in 1923 designed to prevent the exhalation of anesthetic into the ambient air or to prevent the patient from rebreathing their own carbon dioxide. Waters placed a carbon dioxide absorber, soda lime, in the canister between the gas inlet and the air reservoir bag. The patient was able to rebreathe anesthetic, “to-and-fro,” while the CO2 was filtered out.
Date
circa 1930–1940s
Is Part Of
Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine collection.
Type
physical object
Files
Citation
“Waters To-and-Fro CO2 Absorber,” OnView, accessed April 29, 2024, https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/index.php/items/show/26633.