Kymograph

kymograph

[′kī·mə‚graf]

(industrial engineering)

A device used to measure extremely short work time intervals by using a system of transducers that are activated by an operator performing a job, with the impulses recorded as a function of time.

(medicine)

A device for recording internal body movements by making tracings with a stylus on a revolving smoked drum.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Kymograph

 

an instrument that graphs certain physiological processes, such as heartbeat, respiration, and muscle contractions.

A mechanical kymograph was used for the first time by the German physiologist K. Ludwig in 1847 to record changes in blood pressure. The apparatus consisted of a metal drum, covered with smoked paper and evenly rotated by a clock mechanism. A stylus attached to a rod and connected to the contracting heart, muscle, or other functioning organ describes a curve on the drum.

The speed of rotation of the kymograph is regulated by the movement of a friction clutch along the axis and depends on the dimensions of an air brake. Electrokymographs are used for investigations demanding greater accuracy. These kymographs ensure a constant but easily regulated speed of movement. The driving drum of the electrokymograph is set in motion by an electric motor.

I. N. D’IAKONOVA

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.