Willem Einthoven Research Articles

The Contributions of Willem Einthoven to Physiology

Nobel Prize winner Willem Einthoven (1860-1927) used his genius for physical methods to develop electrocardiography and to explain the influence of the heart's position on the shape of the electrocardiogram.

Willem Einthoven--the man. The string galvanometer electrocardiograph.

Despite the universal use of the electrocardiogram for cardiac evaluation, surprisingly few physicians are aware of the individual, Willem Einthoven, who in 1901 reported and in 1924 received the Nobel Prize for the development of the string galvanometer electrocardiograph. Following the development of this comparatively simple device, there has been a succession of increasingly, electrically exotic, electrocardiographs, none of which surpass the original Einthoven instrument in recording accuracy. The resolution of mechanical problems in the laboratory, incident to development of the Einthoven instrument, is of interest in view of the primitive laboratory equipment available during the period the device was developed. Einthoven's preference for funds for additional laboratory assistants and equipment, in lieu of a new laboratory building as a monument to his name and his subsequent disposal of half of the Nobel Prize money, reveal the basic character of this great man, rightfully called the Father of Electrocardiography.

Historical Aspects of Electrocardiography

One hundred years ago, Augustus Desiré Waller recorded the human electrocardiogram for the first time, using a capillary electrometer. Electrocardiography only became clinically relevant in 1901 when Willem Einthoven devised his string galvanometer for this purpose. Sir Thomas Lewis was the key figure in showing the value of the electrocardiography for the diagnosis of disorders of cardiac rhythm and conduction, but many others amplified the technique to encompass the assessment of structural heart disease, especially when due to ischemia. Knowledge of their role and work gives us a better perspective when considering the development of surface electrocardiography.

A perspective of respiratory mechanics.

Breathing was recognized very early to be a muscular action. The participation of the diaphragm, intercostals, and accessory muscles was appreciated by Galen. Consideration of a possible role for smooth muscle in breathing did not occur until much later. Even today smooth muscle is seldom included as a topic in discussions of "respiratory mechanics." Bronchial smooth muscle was first described in the classic study of Reisseisen in the early 19th century, although the presence of contractile elements in lungs had been demonstrated a few decades previously. An important comprehensive investigation of the action of bronchial smooth muscle was published in 1892 by Willem Einthoven. His experimental approach became a paradigm. On the other hand, his analysis of dynamic collapse of the airways received little attention and was independently arrived at half a century later. Although we now have a considerable understanding of the mechanics of bronchial smooth muscle and of the effects of numerous physiological and pharmacological agents on its behavior, the exact role it plays in normal physiological function is unclear. Numerous plausible suggestions have been made, but none has been convincingly demonstrated.

Willem Einthoven's fortuitous invention

It is usually assumed that Willem Einthoven started out as a young investigator to invent the electrocardiograph and that he succeeded. On the contrary, his career had several false starts. True, fortune smiled on him. But his diligence and clinical interest plus the scientific freedom of his age led to his remarkable discovery.

A History of Electrocardiography

This is a valuable and interesting compendium of information about the electrocardiogram, its development from earliest beginnings to the present day, and the many physiologists and clinicians who achieved this development. The story is well told, in the simple, nontechnical manner which has characterized so much of the senior author's teaching style. While a large amount of mathematics might have been included, the authors have avoided all but elementary arithmetic. After an introductory chapter the text begins with an account of the development of recording apparatus, from the earliest experiments of Galvani, through the capillary electrometer to the string galvanometer and other modern instruments. There follows a chapter of biographies, the first of which is a delightful sketch of the life and work of the central figure, Willem Einthoven. All the other biographies are extremely short: it would have been interesting, and also appropriate, to have had fuller accounts of

Willem EINTHOVEN (1860-1927). Some facets of his life and work.

HomeCirculation ResearchVol. 9, No. 2SPECIAL ARTICLE Free AccessResearch ArticlePDF/EPUBAboutView PDFSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyReddit Jump toFree AccessResearch ArticlePDF/EPUBSPECIAL ARTICLE Willem Einthoven (1860 -1927) Some Facets of His Life and Work CARL J. WIGGERS CARL J. WIGGERSCARL J. WIGGERS Search for more papers by this author Originally published1 Mar 1961https://doi.org/10.1161/01.RES.9.2.225Circulation Research. 1961;9:225–234 Previous Back to top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited By Tweddell J, Ghanayem N and Hoffman G (2014) All This Monitoring…What’s Necessary, What’s Not?, Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery: Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Annual, 10.1053/j.pcsu.2014.01.010, 17:1, (81-90), . Gerard B. H (2011) It Started With Einthoven, AACN Advanced Critical Care, 10.1097/10.1097/NCI.0b013e3181fffe4c, 22:1, (93-96), . Cajavilca C and Varon J (2008) Willem Einthoven: The development of the human electrocardiogram, Resuscitation, 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2007.10.014, 76:3, (325-328), Online publication date: 1-Mar-2008. Raltaharju P (1996) A hundred years of progress in electrocardiography 1: Early contributions from Waller to Wilson, Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology, 10.1111/j.1542-474X.1996.tb00267.x, 1:1, (85-97), Online publication date: 1-Jan-1996. Silverman M and Willis Hurst J (1992) Willem einthoven-the father of electrocardiography, Clinical Cardiology, 10.1002/clc.4960151020, 15:10, (785-787), Online publication date: 1-Oct-1992. Snellen H (1977) Life and Work of Willem Einthoven (1860–1927) Selected Papers on Electrocardiography of Willem Einthoven, 10.1007/978-94-010-1301-7_2, (11-24), . Lindeboom G and Ham A (1975) Biographies and Biographica A Classified Bibliography of the History of Dutch Medicine 1900–1974, 10.1007/978-94-011-8780-0_1, (1-194), . Lindeboom G (1975) Biographies and Biographica A Classified Bibliography of the History of Dutch Medicine 1900–1974, 10.1007/978-94-010-1697-1_1, (1-194), . March 1, 1961Vol 9, Issue 2 Advertisement Article InformationMetrics © 1961 American Heart Association, Inc.https://doi.org/10.1161/01.RES.9.2.225 Manuscript receivedSeptember 15, 1960Originally publishedMarch 1, 1961 PDF download Advertisement

Development in clinical electrocardiography since Einthoven

T he history of men of science reflects the history of science. Willem Einthoven, a humble, intelligent, and creative thinker, was a great man who was representative of the best in the history of medicine. Unfortunately, most of the history of medicine is a history of errors in a struggle for survival and self-aggrandizement. In the midst of such noncreative activity, occasionally has come a man to advance knowledge and man himself. So it was with Einthoven. The full significance of great accomplishments is only partly realized at any one time, since the significance of great things grows endlessly. A creative development came with the sensitive, accurate, and reliable string galvanometer, a deliberate, methodical, and creative development from the brain Jf a great and modest man (Fig. 1). Modest and dedicated were even his associates. The early studies of electrocardiography in Einthoven’s laboratory were of high quality. History of the subsequent developments in clinical electrocardiography outside Leiden reveals considerabIe variation in quality of investigations and reports, and reflects more accurately the average state of clinical research and care of patients. As with the writings of great men, those of lesser men reflect and record forever their personalities. May this continue, for then the true history of medicine is recorded, whatever it may be. To select and edit the works of man can only distort the work of man. Perusal of reports in clinical electrocardiography reveals progress and development resembling that in other medical fields. Among the many contributors to the progress in electrocardiography were a few outstanding minds. Thomas Lewis, James Mackenzie, Alfred Cohn, H. E. Hollmann, W. Hollmann, K. F. Wenckebath, Frank Wilson, Ernest Starling, W. M. Bayliss, Carl Wiggers, Augustus Waller, James B. Herrick, Horatio B. Williams, W. H. Craib, H. C. Burger, and F. Schellong represent a few, in addition to Einthoven himself, who have been the stalwarts of research and development in clinical electrocardiography. Sir Thomas Lewis, who was most responsible for the early developments, was primarily interested in cardiac arrhythmias, whereas F. N. Wilson was the central figure of a slightly later electrocardiographic period who made extremely important contributions to other aspects of electrocardiography. The history of the development of clini-

Willem Einthoven Some historical notes on the occasion of the centenary celebration of his birth

Willem Einthoven Some historical notes on the occasion of the centenary celebration of his birth

Prof. W. Einthoven, for. Mem. R.S

PROF. WILLEM EINTHOVEN, whose death on Sept 28 at the age of sixty-eight years has been announced, was one of the foremost of modern physiologists. For nearly forty-two years he has been professor of physiology at Leyden, Holland, being invited to succeed Heynsius in November 1885, and actually taking up his duties, after passing his final State examination in medicine, on Feb. 24, 1886. For the first twenty years of his office the chair of physiology was combined with that of histology.