science · 25 December 1960 · 64 years ago
In 1960, Dr Irving Cooper received a Christmas gift that inspired his invention of the first cryosurgery device (to freeze tissue). The gift was a wine-bottle opener which lifted the cork by injecting carbon dioxide gas into the bottle. He observed the gas was very cold when released and he could direct small squirts from it to freeze tiny areas on the palm of his hand and watch them thaw. He also observed the freezing effect was very localized and isolated from the surrounding tissue. From this inspiration, he developed a technique of brain surgery in which he used liquid nitrogen flowing in a thin tube first to deaden, and then freeze, tremor-causing brain cells or tumours. The invention created a new field of surgery with applications for other areas of the body as well.
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