As time advances, science tends to progress, and medical technology improves. That’s probably no surprise to anyone. But it’s only when you physically see historical health-related contraptions that you can genuinely begin to appreciate modern developments.
We want to give you a unique glimpse into the recent past, so our team at Bored Panda has collected some of the most fascinating photos of old-school medical inventions.
They look so bizarre that they could easily be mistaken for something out of The Twilight Zone or a retrofuturistic movie. Scroll down to take a peek and to get even more appreciation for modern tech. Oh, and don’t forget to show these to your friends working in medicine!
#1 A Patient Getting Treated In The Iron Lung
Image source: The National Library of Medicine
#2 A Woman Gets Treated In An Electric Cabinet
Image source: Library and Archives Canada
#3 A Woman Tries On A Portable Respirator
This 1955 photograph shows a patient using a portable respirator, a significant advancement from the massive “iron lung” chambers used during the polio epidemic. The device, consisting of a chest plate connected by a hose to a bedside pump, allowed patients with paralyzed respiratory muscles to breathe. This innovation offered a greater degree of freedom and the possibility of recuperating in the comfort of their own homes rather than being confined to a hospital ward.
Image source: Hans Meyer / Getty Images
#4 The Rubella Vaccine Research Team
This photograph captures a pivotal moment in medical history, showing Drs. Harry Meyer Jr. and Paul Parkman with scientist Hope Hopps at the National Institutes of Health. In this lab, the team successfully isolated the rubella virus and developed a crucial blood test to determine immunity. Their groundbreaking work in the 1960s directly led to the creation of the rubella vaccine, which has since prevented millions of birth defects and virtually eliminated the disease in many parts of the world.
Image source: Jerry Hecht
#5 The Extreme Look Of Cobalt Therapy
Image source: Unknown author
#6 Guillaume Duchenne Forces A Patient To Laugh
French neurologist Guillaume Duchenne is seen using electrical probes to stimulate the facial muscles of a patient. Duchenne believed that specific muscles were linked to distinct emotions, and by applying these currents, he could artificially induce expressions like joy, fear, and pain.
Image source: Hulton Deutsch / Getty Images
#7 A Bizarre Looking Aviation Eye Test
This 1960 photograph captures a strange experiment at the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine. Dr. G. H. Byford is shown wearing a contact lens fitted with a miniature lamp while standing beneath a rotating optokinetic drum. The setup was designed to study the involuntary reflex movements of the eye and understand how visual illusions could affect a pilot’s perception and stability during flight.
Image source: Harry Thompson / Getty Images
#8 A Newborn Baby Receiving Oxygen In Berlin In 1939
Image source: ullstein bild Dtl. / Getty Images
#9 An Early X-Ray Machine
This photograph from around 1929 showcases an early Roentgen X-ray machine at a German institute. This cumbersome setup was a necessary precaution against the constant exposure to harmful radiation, a poorly understood but increasingly recognized threat in the pioneering days of medical imaging.
Image source: Underwood Archives / Getty Images
#10 Tapeworms Were Prescribed For Weight Loss
In the early 20th century, a bizarre and dangerous weight-loss trend involved intentionally ingesting tapeworms. People would swallow sanitized pills containing a tapeworm egg, hoping the parasite would hatch and consume the food in their intestines, leading to weight loss without dieting. The practice was incredibly risky, often causing severe malnutrition, abdominal pain, and other serious health complications instead of the desired results.
Image source: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, ranker.com
#11 A Complex Medical Device Display Case
Image source: The National Library of Medicine
#12 Schnee Baths Was Used As A Special Treatment
Image source: Library and Archives Canada
#13 Plague Doctor Had To Wear Bizarre Uniforms
These are the bizarre and terrifying outfits worn by plague doctors during the 17th-century outbreaks. The most famous feature is the long, bird-like mask, which was stuffed with herbs and spices to purify the “bad air” thought to cause the disease. A long wax-covered gown, gloves, and a wide-brimmed hat were meant to protect the doctor from head to toe, creating a grim figure that became a symbol of the Black Death itself.
Image source: General Photographic Agency / Getty Images
#14 Electrical Treatment For Phycological Disorders During WWI
Image source: otisarchives4
#15 The First Electrocardiograph Was A Complicated Setup
Image source: AlGhatrif M, Lindsay J
#16 A Doctor Receives Treatment From A Colleague
Image source: The National Library of Medicine
#17 Medical Instruments Being Waterproofed For Military Use
Image source: The National Library of Medicine
#18 An Electric Horse And Vibration Machine Being Used On Patients
Image source: Library and Archives Canada
#19 A Military Casualty’s Brainwaves Are Measured In 1940 At Sutton Emergency Hospital
Image source: Fox Photos / Getty Images
#20 A Lithotomy Crutch From The 1890s That Was Used For Bladder Surgery
This strange-looking device is a 19th-century lithotomy crutch, used to hold a patient in a vulnerable and excruciating position for bladder stone surgery. Before the operation, a surgeon would strap the patient’s ankles into the cuffs and hoist their legs up toward their ears to get the best access to the bladder. The invasive and unanesthetized procedure that followed was notoriously painful and had an incredibly high mortality rate.
Image source: The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
#21 Early Dialysis Machines In Germany
During the German occupation of the Netherlands, Dutch physician Willem Kolff invented the first functioning artificial kidney machine, a groundbreaking device for treating kidney failure. Fearing the German authorities would confiscate his life-saving invention, Kolff and his team famously hid the bulky, rotating-drum dialysis machines in the hospital garden at Kampen.
Image source: National WWII Museum
#22 Women Use A Surgical Dressing Stretching Machine In 1915
Image source: Paul Thompson/FPG / Getty Images
#23 Nurses Carefully Watching A Surgeon Attending To A Patient
Image source: The National Library of Medicine
#24 A Medical Device That Can Measure Skin Temperature
Image source: The National Library of Medicine
#25 A Wwii Iron Lung In Use
Image source: Arthur John Faithful
#26 Plastic Man Was Used To Simulate Human Radiation Exposures By Chemist, Wright H. Langham In 1959
Image source: InfoDataMonger
#27 Medieval Medicine Greatly Relied On Astrology And All Physicians Were Trained In Astrology Too
Image source: Library of Congress
#28 Obesity Soap Advertised In 1903
Image source: NPR
#29 I Medieval Depiction Of A Physician Letting Blood
A common sight in medieval and early modern medicine was the practice of bloodletting, as seen in this historical illustration. Doctors believed that many illnesses were caused by an imbalance of the body’s four “humors,” and that sick people often had an excess of blood. The prescribed cure was to drain this surplus, either by making an incision with a fleam or by applying leeches to the patient’s skin, a painful procedure intended to restore balance and health.
Image source: Maggie Black’s The Medieval Cookbook, ranker.com
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