- Electrocardiogram (1903)
Dr. Willem Einthoven of the Netherlands invented the first practical electrocardiogram. The original weighed 600 pounds, had a water cooling system for its gigantic electromagnets and needed five operators. In 1924 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his invention.
- Laparoscopy (1910)
Dr. Hans Christian Jacobaeus, a Swedish internist, performed the first laparoscopy on a human. He punctured the abdominal walls of 17 patients, using cocaine as a local anesthetic, and removed fluid from their abdomens. After removing the fluid, he examined the cavities with a cytoscope.
- Electroencephalogram (1924)
Dr. Hans Berger of Germany recorded the first human electroencephalogram, or EEG. His assertion that the brain's electrical impulses could be recorded was generally met with derision, and five years passed before Dr. Berger published his technique for recording the electrical activity of the human brain from the surface of the head.
- Lobotomy (1935)
António Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist, performed the first modern lobotomy, the severing of neural connections in the brain's frontal cortex to treat delusional or violent patients. He was not a trained surgeon. The operation was soon found useless and destructive and is no longer practiced, but in 1948 Moniz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for his invention.
- Dialysis (1943)
Willem J. Kolff, a Dutch physician, built the first dialysis machine, working with tin cans and parts from washing machines during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Although his first few attempts were failures, Dr. Kolff did finally develop a useful machine in the 1950s while working with colleagues at the Cleveland Clinic.