Robert Bartholow
Robert Bartholow or Roberts Bartholow (born November 28, 1831 , † 1904 ) was an American doctor from New Windsor , Maryland .
Life
Bartholow received his medical degree from the University of Maryland in 1852. From 1855 to 1864 he worked as a surgeon in the US Army . From 1864 to 1879 he was a professor at the Medical College of Ohio . He then became a professor at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia .
Bartholow became known through the application of electrical current to a patient's dura mater . In 1874, Bartholow presented 30-year-old Mary Rafferty who had a two-inch diameter hole in her skull caused by a cancerous ulcer. Inspired by animal studies by David Ferrier , Bartholow applied small electrical currents to different areas of Rafferty's head and noticed movements in different parts of the body. In addition, the electrical current did not seem to cause the patient any pain. However, when Bartholow applied larger electric shocks to the patient, she fell into a coma. Rafferty awoke from this coma, but suffered an epileptic seizure the following day and died.
The American Medical Association criticized Bartholow for this experiment. However, this did not affect his professional work. In 1893 he was retired from Jefferson College.
literature
- Morgan JP. The first reported case of electrical stimulation of the human brain. J Hist Med Allied Sci. 1982 Jan; 37 (1): 51-64.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bartholow, Robert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bartholow, Roberts |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American doctor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 28, 1831 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1904 |