The Thermometers Transition into the Medical World
A History of Disease and Research
This page examines how and why the thermometer made its transition into the medical world and why it took so long for the thermometer to enter into mainstream medical practice
Why was there a lag?
Part of the problem surrounding the transition of thermometers into medicine was the lack of understanding of fevers.
Galen of Pergamon (heralded as a major figure in the history of medicine for his work) thought fevers were a disease. This view on fevers lasted into the 15th century as it wasn’t until the 16th century that Fracastoro suggested that fevers may be a symptom of infection instead of a disease on its own. This concept was not confirmed until centuries later by Pasteur and Koch.
For Centuries, caregivers placed the palms of their hands on the foreheads of sick people to detect fevers
Clifford A. Pickover in The Medical Book: From Witch Doctors to Robot Surgeons, 250 Milestones in the History of Medicine
First Use
De Haen of Vienna is credited with introducing the thermometer to medicine. In his practice he realized that body temperature fluctuated daily but remained within a narrow range while using a thermometer that took 7 ½ minutes to register maximum temperature. Despite this early adoption into medicine, thermometer usage died down until the late 1700’s, early 1800’s.
Santorio Santorio also developed a clinical thermometer in the late 16th/early 17th century but like De Haen’s use, it not see diffuse usage until the 19th century; partly due to the understanding of fever but also due to the technology of the thermometer available in this time period.
The Impact of Accuracy
Some of the earlier thermometers could be up to a meter in length and bent at an angle that required patients to hold the thermometer under their armpits in a sling. In addition to the larger size, they took upward of 10 minutes to record their maximum temperature and could not be removed from the patient or they would lose their maximum recording.
With innovations and research (see timeline) the thermometer became more accurate and easier to use. These innovations helped doctors add thermometers into their practice.
Solidification of Use
In 1868 Karl Wunderlich released his research on the body temperature of over 25 000 patients and Thomas Maclagan published research on the temperature of patients with typhus, typhoid, and pneumonia. This extensive research made the connection between body temperature and medicine concrete. Use of the thermometer entered fully into modern medicine with this research, moving from sporadic use, to routine use by the late 1860’s.
Now Concrete
The combination of disease theory, physical innovation and the desire for accuracy launched the thermometer into medicine as a standard instrument. The evolution did not stop once it entered medicine and it likely will not stop soon.
To read more on the innovations that the usage of thermometry underwent with nurses read here.
