Electrocardiographs measure the small electrical currents generated by beating hearts. Willem Einthoven, a Dutch physiologist, invented an electrocardiograph—which he termed a string galvanometer—in 1901. The first electrocardiograph in the United States was the commercial model that Alfred E. Cohn (1879-1957), a young American cardiologist, acquired in London, installed at Mt. Sinai Hospital New York, and used to make these tracings in 1910-1911.
Ref: “Alfred Cohn Dies; Cardiologist, 78,” New York Times (July 23, 1957), p. 25.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.