Erich Weidenhammer

@eweidenh.bsky.social

2071 Followers 1900 Following

Scientific Instruments at the University of Toronto Material culture & SciTech heritage Sundry 3D printing and design He/Him

Side view of a Zimmer hinged knee prosthesis. The tibial component has a worn, brown tinted finish. The femoral component is has a polished metallic finish.
A side view of a metal electrical instrument, likely from the 1920s or 1930s. It consists of various elements on a metal platform. Especially prominent is an electrical motor that turns a large pulley using a leather belt. The pulley runs a rotary pump which is connected to the suction and ether delivery system.
A close-in photograph of part of an electrical ether pump/ suction device from c. 1920s. The photo shows the base of the pump, which is rusted in places. It also shows a decayed orange-red tubing and part of an embrittled power cord. The surface of the instrument is littered with bits of debris from these decaying elements.
Front view of a small (~ 6 cm tall) glass vial containing a tiny amount of a white crystalline powder. The vial has an off-white and red paper label that is marked by dark handwriting. It is sealed with a cork that is lined with a metal foil.
A tiny wooden case contains a glass phial/ bottle. The bottle, which is filled with an amber liquid, has a yellow label with blue lettering. The bottle is cushioned with a white material, possibly cotton.
Pilfered screenshot of the Commodore 64 game Shogun. Two characters on screen.
A glass instrument mounted, a low pressure mercury lamp, on a white stand. The instrument consists primarily of two interconnected mercury-filled bulbs with appendages for electrical leads and the attachment of a water supply to the internal cooling channels. A narrow, tubular section is presumably where the incandescing mercury vapour supplies the light. At four points along this tubular section, the artifact is cradled in the stand and secured with clear fishing line.
An very old, very worn handcart marked "GEOPHYSICS". The bed is formed by wooden planks. It has a sturdy metal handle. There are several deep scorch marks in the upper half of the wooden deck.
Photo shows a cordless drill with a 3/8" wood bit mounted. It also shows an unpainted length of MDF baseboard with a 3d-printed jig. The jig has two holes to guide the drilling of holes to mount lengths of dowel. A length of 3/8" dowel has been placed on the piece of baseboard.
A close image of a white mount placed on a white exhibit shelf. The mount supports one end of a long and narrow glass instrument. It is cradled in a concave element/
A glass display case, built into a wall, containing several adjustable white shelves. Columns of shelves are mounted on vertical cables, with one cable passing though each corner. The shelves contain glass artifacts, several of which are cradles on custom made white mounts.
A series of white-painted artifact mounts of various sizes and shapes arrayed on an extremely red table.
This photograph shows the testing chamber with the lid open before cleaning. Pieces of brittle foam surround the integrated microphone within the chamber. This photograph was taken before the chamber was cleaned of loose material, but after the various accessories that had been stored in the chamber were removed. Those took a lot of cleaning as they were contaminated with bits of rotten foam.
A photograph of an FP20 Portable Hearing Aid Analyzer, a microcomputer-controlled instrument introduced in 1982. The unit is housed in a standard black Samsonite briefcase. This is open in this photo revealing the white-coloured console of the unit and the testing chamber. The lid of the testing chamber is closed.
This image shows a prototype partial knee as depicted in a 1977 US patent assigned to the University of Toronto. One the left is a plastic (likely high density polyethylene) femoral component. One the right is a metal (likely Vitallium) tibial plateau.
This image shows a collection of six MacIntosh implants of various sizes that are catalogued within the Jackson collection. Each implant is a metal piece that replaces the bearing surface of one condyle of the tibia. The photo shows the highly polished upper surfaces of the implants. The lower surfaces are textured to ensure a friction fit against the underlying bone. The MacIntosh implant was uncemented.
A photograph of Dr. Peter Kopplin (left) and Dr. Robert Galway (right). They are standing in front of a table that holds an array of artificial knees and related items. These are arranged in chronological order. Dr. Galway was on staff at Toronto general when some of this development took place. Although he wasn't directly involved, he knows several people on the orthopedic community who may have some information.
This image shows an English-manufactured version of the Judet hip prosthesis called the Newman's Hip Prosthesis. It is different from the Judet model in having a broader and more rectangular aspect to the lower portion of the head that fits like a collar over the remaining portion of the femoral head. The information sheet included in the box with this item notes that it is made of a Perspex (acrylic) that is manufactured without plasticizer.
This is a black and white image showing Dr. Robert W. Jackson in surgical garb examining the interior of a patient's knee with a Watanabe arthroscope. The arthroscope is about the size of a fountain pen. It has a wider eyepiece on one end that Dr. Jackson is looking into.
A side view of a clear plastic hip implant with a vaguely mushroom-like form consisting of a partially hemispherical head (taking the form of the head of the femur) and a narrow stem, which is implanted into the neck of the femur. Visible within the clear stem is a metal rod that provides reinforcement and x-ray visibility. Visible within the head are metal x-ray markers for locating the prosthetic in an x-ray image. Portions of the interior of the head are cloudy, possibly due to deterioration with time. There is a chip in the lower edge of the head.
This image shows a projected slide from den Hartog's presetation that depicts a black and white photo showing craftspeople (two women and a man) seated in a workshop creating facial prosthetics for disfigured veterans. The photo is credited to the U of T archives. To the right of the projector screen den Hartog at a lecturn in front of a microphone.
A close view of two bone or ivory bone plates and a partly finished section of cow bone. The plates are elongated with rounded edges. The plates have countersunk holes in them to accept bone or ivory screws. One is narrower and has four holes. The other is wider and has three. The narrower of the two plates is marked with the word "Germany".
This is a bad scan of an illustration from Gallie and Roberson's 1919 long paper, "The Repair of Bone". It shows a fractured radius of an adult terrier, repaired with boiled cow bone plate and screws, and resected after 8 weeks of healing. The implants have been absorbed into the living bone. (Fig 250, p. 237).
This is an overview of an image showing eighteen small artifacts. Some are made of cow bone, others may be made of ivory. Three are larger pieces of boiled cow bone. These were likely used to demonstrate the process of making the finished items. (The outline of a bone plate is traced onto the surface of the largest piece). Finished pieces include two bone plates of different sizes, three screws, three intramedullary pegs, and six narrow pins. The craft work items is impressive; The screws are only a few millimeters in diameter, but have fully carved threads.
A screen grab of the unedited mesh generated by Meshroom and imported into Blender. It is very incomplete and messy.
A photo of the original gargoyle--a stylized medieval knight in armour on a sort of pillar as part of the decoration of an interior doorway.
Two identical shadow boxes, panted brown and black, each contain a white 3d-print of stylized knight gargoyle. These was made from a scan of an original plaster detail that's on a doorway in my in-law's house.
The MOSES receiver in its shipping case. The case is about (64cm x 57cm x 57cm) when closed. The main central plate of the instrument nearly reaches the inner edge of the enclosure. It's pretty big. Two fluxgate magnetometer sensors adapted from Scintrex MFM-3 magnetometers are mounted orthogonally above a central aluminum plate. A large computer mainboard was probably mounted on the plate. This, unfortunately, was removed at some point.
The analyzer element of a Coulter Cell Sorter with its lid off, revealing the electronic components inside.
A long glass artifact (a laser tube) mounted to an unfinished pine board. The artifact consists primarily of a narrow glass channel with three larger cylindrical bulbs. The bulbs have wire leads emerging from them.
Two cellos side-by-side. On the left is a conventional acoustic cello. On the right is an electric cello mounted on a frame built from 3d-printed elements and wooden dowels. The frame is meant to recreate the points of contact of the conventional cello.
This image shows the cover of Scientific American from August of 1968. The cover features an illustration showing the head of a male figure wearing in instrumented helmet. The helmet has a periscope eyepiece and a forward looking camera. Beside this is a recent selfie of me wearing the same helmet. I've tried to make the selfie as similar to the cover illustration as similar as possible. I'm a middle aged male of in evident need of a shave.