Drinker respirator

respirator /res·pi·ra·tor/ (res´pĭ-ra″ter) ventilator (2).

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cuirass respirator  see under ventilator.

Drinker respirator  popularly, “iron lung”: an apparatus formerly in wide use for producing artificial respiration over long periods of time, consisting of a metal tank, enclosing the patient's body, with the head outside, and within which artificial respiration is maintained by alternating negative and positive pressure.

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Drin·ker respirator (drngkr)

n.

An airtight metal tank enclosing all the body except the head and forcing the lungs to inhale and exhale by regulating changes in air pressure. Also called iron lung.

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Drinker respirator

Etymology: Philip Drinker, American engineer, 1894-1972

an airtight respirator consisting of a metal tank that encloses the entire body, except the head. Used for long-term therapy, it alternates positive and negative air pressure within the tank, providing artificial respiration by contracting and expanding the walls of the chest. Also called artificial lung, iron lung.

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respirator [res´pĭ-ra″tor]

1. an apparatus that qualifies air breathed through it, to be distinguished from a ventilator.

2. frequently used misnomer for ventilator (def. 2).

Drinker respirator a formerly common but now rarely used type of ventilator that provides controlled, automatic breathing for a patient whose respiratory muscles are paralyzed; it consists of a metal tank, enclosing the patient's body with the head outside, within which artificial respiration is maintained by alternating negative and positive pressure. It was instrumental in the treatment of the poliomyelitis epidemic of the early decades of the 20th century. Popularly known as iron lung.