The Sphygmorgaph is an 1800s device used to take measurements of a person’s pulse. It would record the movements on paper, thus making it a device used in Pulse Writing. Think of it as an old-timey EKG device or the closest thing to it for its time.
Did you Know?…
Doctors have a “Tactus Eruditu” – a Learned Touch
Before the 16th century, doctors would measure their patients’ pulse using only ‘tactus eruditu’ – a learned touch. At that point in history, there was no easy way to record or visualize the pulse, outside of the practitioner’s mind. [1]
Pusiolgy was the First Device to Record The Pulse
Santoria Sanctorius (1561 – 1636) invented the pusilogy, the first device to record the speed of the pulse, though it was still dependent on the physician’s touch. The input for the invention was the doctor’s movement of a pendulum in reference to the pulse he felt with his fingers. [2]
Sources and Additional Reading
[1] “The Sphygmograph: Its history and use as an aid to diagnosis in ordinary practice” (1882). This book is by Robert Ellis Dudgeon. Credit to the Medical Heritage Library for digitizing it and the Internet Archive for offering access.
[2] “A Brief Journey Into the History of The Arterial Pulse” (2011) by Nima Ghasemzadeh and A Maziar Zafari. Found on PubMed Central, part of the National Library of Medicine.