John Macintyre | |
|---|---|
 John Macintyre | |
| Born | (1857-10-02)2 October 1857 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died | 29 October 1928(1928-10-29) (aged 71) |
| Education | University of Glasgow |
| Known for | Establishing the world's firstradiology department |
| Spouse | |
John Macintyre orMcintyreFRSE (2 October 1857 – 29 October 1928) was a Scottish medical doctor who set up the world's firstradiology department at theGlasgow Royal Infirmary, inGlasgow.[1]
Macintyre was born in High Street, Glasgow. His father was a tailor. His mother was related to the missionary and explorerDavid Livingstone. Macintyre originally trained as an electrical engineer and worked as an apprentice electrician before enrolling to theUniversity of Glasgow in 1878. There he changed his field for medicine and graduated in 1882 with theBachelor of Medicine degree. He then worked as anaval surgeon in London, Paris and Vienna, and returned to Glasgow to assume a position of a Surgeon for Diseases of the Throat at Anderson's College Dispensary. He later established a private practice specialising in the treatment of singers and actors.[1]
As part of his interest in the larynx, he was responsible for creating the first self-illuminatedendoscope around 1894/5.[2][failed verification]
Macintyre is mostly known for applying his electrical engineering knowledge to medicine. In 1885 he became Consulting Medical Electrician at Glasgow Royal Infirmary where he established a "department for the application of medical electricity" in 1887. In 1893 he became President of the British Laryngological Society. In 1895 he was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers wereJohn Gray McKendrick,James Thomson Bottomley,Magnus Maclean andWilliam Jack.[3]
Late in 1895,X-rays were discovered byWilhelm Röntgen. On 5 February 1896James Thomson Bottomley asked McIntyre to demonstrate an x-ray machine created by his uncle,William Thomson, Lord Kelvin following instructions from Rontgen (Lord Kelvin was ill and could not attend). The demonstration took place at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and was the first use of x-rays in Scotland. All Scottish hospitals introduced x-ray machines within the next 12 months.[2]
Macintyre went further and recorded an X-ray movie of the moving legs of a frog, and presented the results in a report "On Roentgen X-Rays, or the new photography" to the Philosophical Society of Glasgow in 1896. In the same year, he set up the world's first radiology department at theGlasgow Royal Infirmary, where X-ray photographs were used in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. There, Macintyre produced the first images of renal stones and various inner body parts. For his groundbreaking work, he received many awards and honours.
In 1897 he moved to London and founded the Rontgen Society of London. He served as their first President.[4]
He was also President of the West of Scotland Branch of theBritish Medical Association, Corresponding Fellow of the American and French Laryngological Associations, Fellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh and of theRoyal Microscopical Society, among other posts.[5]
He died on 29 October 1928.
In 1892 he married Agnes Jean Hardie.
