New Tools

Doctors visiting the 200 exhibits in the District of Columbia Armory during last week's A.M.A. Clinical Meeting saw some promising new professional aids. Among them:

P:Bell Telephone Laboratories' transistorized, electronic larynx, for people who have had their voice boxes removed in surgery and have never mastered the difficult art of speaking with the gullet. Contoured to fit the hand and powered by tiny batteries, the artificial larynx is pressed against the flesh of the throat, transmits vibrations into the lower end of the vocal tract. These vibrations can be converted into voiced sounds of speech in a normal manner--by use of the tongue, teeth and lips. But because no flow of air is required, the user can speak with the electronic larynx while exhaling, inhaling or holding his breath. The gadget comes in two models--low-pitched for men, higher-pitched for women.

P:A tough, porous surgical tape, made by Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co., which can be used in place of stitches to close incisions. Successfully substituted for surgical stitches in 300 trial patients with a wide variety of wounds, the tape is waterproof and non-irritative, reduces the risk of infection and undesirable scar formation.

P:An ingenious, 10-Ib. heart-lung machine, invented by Dr. Sam I. Lerman. a Detroit general practitioner. Powered by a windshield wiper motor, Dr. Lerman's homemade machine--like complicated, bulky hospital models that weigh 75 Ibs. or more, cost from $4,000 to $40,000--is designed to take over the functions of the heart and lungs during heart surgery, oxygenate the blood and maintain constant circulation. It has been tested successfully on dogs. The machine runs on oxygen pressure, uses no electricity, and could be manufactured to sell for $200.

To these tools, the U.S. Army Medical Service added an important contribution. The Pentagon this week announced development of a suitcase-sized, portable X-ray unit that weighs only 85 Ibs. (v. ordinary half-ton hospital X-ray machines) and operates at such high speed that it will not blur film during chest X rays even if the patient is breathing normally.

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