The development of appartus for intermittent negative pressure respiration

Abstract

The history of tank and cuirass respirators from the first known use of the intermittent negative pressure principle in 1832 to 1918, on the threshold of its extensive use in the treatment of respiratory paralysis, has been related. A second article will consider the period 1918 to the present day and suggest that negative pressure apparatus-particularly the cuirass respirator-still has its uses.