Max Einhorn

Max Einhorn (January 10, 1862 – September 25, 1953) was a Polish American gastroenterologist and inventor of surgical instruments.

Biography

Einhorn was born in Suchowola. He studied at the St. Vladimir University in Kyiv and obtained his M.D. from University of Berlin in 1884. Einhorn married Flora Strauss in 1892. He became professor emeritus in 1922.

Einhorn suggested the concept of Achylia gastrica which has been defined as "a functional perversion of the stomach, characterized by the absence of the gastric secretion (of hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and rennet)." In 1932, he was described as "one of the foremost gastro-enterologists of the world". He was the first to carry out a stomach biopsy.

Einhorn died at Lenox Hill Hospital. He also invented the gastrodiaphane or gastrodiaphanoscope which lit the stomach by transillumination and was used before the advent of x-rays. The device consisted of an electric-light bulb which passed through an esophageal tube into the stomach. Einhorn developed the "stomach bucket" which became the "duodenal bucket". It was a small oval-shaped container with an opening attached to a silk thread. The device would be swallowed by a patient allowing for gastric chemicals to be collected in the container and drawn out of the body for scientific analysis.

Einhorn's gastrograph was designed to record the movements of the stomach. The device consisted of a tube with a hollow platinum ball attached, a few electric cells, and a ticker. As the stomach moved the ball would come into contact with an electrical current which allowed gastric movements to be recorded.

Selected publications

The Gastrograph (1894) Diseases of the Intestines (1900) Practical Problems of Diet and Nutrition (1905) Diseases of the Stomach (1911) Lectures on Dietetics (1914) The Duodenal Tube and its Possibilities (1920)