December 10, 1924
Electrocardiogram Wins for
Developer
Dutch physiologist Willem Einthoven has won the Nobel Prize in medicine
for his invention of the electrocardiogram.
In the early 1900's, Einthoven constructed an
electrocardiograph that was sufficiently sensitive and reliable to
detect and record accurately the variations in electrical impulses
associated with the human heartbeat. Then he used the recording,
or electrocardiogram, for diagnosing various types of heart disease.
Einthoven's electrocardiograph, which weighed more than 600 pounds, was
simplified. Then it was manufactured in quantity and sent to
different parts of the world.
The Nobel Committee did not distribute the Peace
Prize nor the prize in chemistry. The Polish writer Vladislav
Stanislas Reymond was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.