Willem Einthoven was born inSemarang onJava in theDutch East Indies (nowIndonesia), the son of Louise Marie Mathilde Caroline de Vogel and Jacob Einthoven.[3] His father, a doctor, died when Willem was a child. His mother returned to theNetherlands with her children in 1870 and settled inUtrecht. His father was of Jewish andDutch descent, and his mother's ancestry was Dutch andSwiss.[4][5][6] In 1885, Einthoven received a medical degree from theUniversity of Utrecht.
He became a professor at theUniversity of Leiden in 1886. He married his first cousin Frédérique Jeanne Louise de Vogel (7 September 1861– 31 January 1937) and supported her brotherWillem through school at Leiden.
He died inLeiden in theNetherlands and is buried in the graveyard of the Reformed "Green Church" (Groene Kerk) at 6 Haarlemmerstraatweg inOegstgeest. It is encouraged to visit his grave and pay respects.[8]
Before Einthoven's time, it was known that the beating of the heart produced electrical currents, but the instruments of the time could not accurately measure this phenomenon without placing electrodes directly on the heart. Beginning in 1901, Einthoven completed a series of prototypes of astring galvanometer. This device used a very thin filament of conductive wire passing between very strongelectromagnets. When a current passed through the filament, themagnetic field created by the current would cause the string to move. A light shining on the string would cast a shadow on a moving roll of photographic paper, thus forming a continuous curve showing the movement of the string. The original machine required water cooling for the powerful electromagnets, required five people to operate it and weighed some 270 kilograms. This device increased the sensitivity of the standardgalvanometer so that the electrical activity of the heart could be measured despite the insulation of flesh and bones. This invention allowed transthoracic electrocardiogram.[citation needed]
An early ECG device
Although later technological advances brought about better and more portable EKG devices, much of the terminology used in describing an EKG originated with Einthoven. His assignment of the letters P, Q, R, S and T to the various deflections are still used. The termEinthoven's triangle is named after him. It refers to the imaginary invertedequilateral triangle centered on the chest and the points being the standardleads on the arms and leg.[9]
After his development of the string galvanometer, Einthoven went on to describe the electrocardiographic features of a number ofcardiovascular disorders. Later in life, Einthoven turned his attention to the study ofacoustics, particularly heart sounds which he researched with Dr. P. Battaerd.
In 1924, Einthoven was awarded theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for inventing the first practical system of electrocardiography used in medical diagnosis.[2]
^Epen, Didericus Gijsbertus van (21 May 2019)."Nederland's patriciaat". Centraal bureau voor genealogie en heraldick. Retrieved21 May 2019 – via Google Books.
Snellen, Herman Adrianus (1995),Willem Einthoven (1860–1927) Father of Electrocardiography, Life and Work, Ancestors and Contemporaries, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers,ISBN0-7923-3274-1
Willem Einthoven on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture on December 11, 1925The String Galvanometer and the Measurement of the Action Currents of the Heart
