The History of Ventilators

As COVID-19 continues to remain part of our lives, and even makes a resurgence in several parts of the world, more patients are requiring the use of a ventilator. While we think of the ventilator as a modern medical miracle, it is a piece of equipment that dates back to the 19th century. Since its first use, the ventilator has evolved to help patients across the world breathe when they’re struggling. Trace Medical wants to share the history of the ventilator so you can understand how far we’ve come.

First Uses of the Ventilator 

While they weren’t ventilators in the traditional sense that we think of today, the first ventilators were developed in the 19th century as pressurized boxes. These boxes would change the pressure outside the body in order to manipulate the inside of the body. By raising and lowering the pressure inside the box, the patient’s body would then inhale and exhale as a reaction to the changes in pressure. 

The Iron Lung

The iron lung is one of the most well-known ventilator systems ever designed and was first developed in the late 1920s. Originally known as the “Drinker respirator” after Dr. Philip Drinker, one of the early inventors of the iron lung, the iron lung uses similar principles as the first ventilators from the previous century. The Iron Lung uses the negative pressure principle to manipulate pressure inside the iron lung’s airtight box to help patients breathe. The iron lung was widely used during the polio epidemic of the 1940s and 1950s and helped save countless lives.

Ventilators of Today

Today’s ventilators are far more advanced than their predecessors and have become even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today’s ventilators use lower tidal volumes to treat patients, which means less air is forced into the lungs by the ventilator. This approach of reducing tidal volumes has been shown to improve patient survival rates. 

Trace Medical specializes in providing ventilators to patients and hospitals that need the best respiratory equipment available. Please contact us to learn more about the respiratory equipment solutions we offer.