3 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT GYNECOLOGICAL SPECULUMS

The use of gynecological speculums and the importance of this valuable instrument in the health care & medical sector are invaluable.

The sensitivity of the surgical operations that are performed with the assistance of gynecological speculums deliver the raise in efficiency, accuracy and the critical chances of successful operations.

Specifically during pregnancy diagnostics, this equipment plays its vital role, as the pregnancy itself is a very critical condition, and needs to be taken extreme care of, and the examination of the highly sensitive area of vagina with the equipment ensures safety, accuracy and ease.

Beside these majors there are some rare things which 90 – 99% of people don’t know or they don’t have significant amount of this interesting knowledge that we are about to share.

The 3 things about this historical equipment and how it has evolved and what purposes it had, and has served, along with its new shapes, forms, methods, and safety measures.

A RARE HISTORY

Inspired from the article written at:
(http://www.womenyoushouldknow.net)

Marie-Anne Victoire Gillain Boivin
(9 April 1773 — 16 May 1841)

The contributions this lady made for humanity is remarkable, she was an inventor and gynecological writer.

HONOR

Madam Boivin was a French midwife / nurse and most of all she has been said to be the most important women of the 19th century in the field of medicine.

INVENTIONS
Pelvimeter

Lady Gillain Boivin invented the pelvimeter in an effort to help improvise the pelvimetry (assessment of the female pelvis for the birth of the baby)

VAGINAL SPECULUM

The most frequent medical instrument that is used today was invented by Gillain Boivin during 19th century; the first look of this gynecological instrument was not very different in shape however the features and safety measures have been improvised today, but thanks to the outstanding invention of the French lady.

LITERATURE

Madam Boivin also contributed to the world with her incredible research writings about medicine and scientific procedures that has been carried out to this era (Estimated calculated years 150) and has been translated in various languages and republished so it is better understood and spread to all over the world.

SUMMARY OF LIFETIME (GILLAIN BOIVIN)

Early to midlife

She was born in Montreuil, a near place just outside of Paris, in the year 1773. She was educated by the nuns of the hospital Etampes, and that was one of the reason she was attracted to midwifery as well, besides during her education, Madame Elisabeth the sister of King Louis XVI took a look at her admirable talents and she took care of her education. Later when the nunnery was demolished during the revolution, she spared 3 years of her life in educating herself the anatomy and midwifery and later she would become the exception in the field of Gynecology of the 19th Century.

Maturity to End

Marie at the age of 24 married Louis Boivin in the year 1797, sorrowfully after 3 years she got widowed and was left alone with her young daughter and very few money to survive, she didn’t give up and moved on with her studies and achieved her midwife certification in 1800 and experienced in Versaille.

Her misery later continued and she had her daughter killed in an accident, soon after that she would return to Paris for continuing to work at the Hospice de la Maternite as Lachapelle’s assistant. She serviced there with her knowledge and skills of gynecology for 11 consecutive years and proved herself as the most successful surgeon of the 19th century, resolving most difficult and critical cases.

She was honored by the testimonial of the leading surgeon the that time, that she “Had an eye at the tip of each finger”

Later because of the argument with Lachapelle and professional jealousy, Boivin resigned, and was dignified with variety of positions in many of the hospitals.

Co-director at General Hospital – Seine and Oise in 1814
Director at a temporary military hospital in 1815
Director at Hospice de la Maternite and the Maison Royal de Sante

She was honored with the award of “Order fo Merit” in 1814 by King of Prussia, and later she received an honorary M.D. by the University of Marburg at Germany.

Besides all of the contributions, her additional knowledge and discoveries about the cause of the diseases of placenta and uterus and methods of preventing miscarriages are invaluable and

“Madam Boivin was one of the first surgeons of that time who removed the cervix because of a cancer growth”

Regardless of all the most amazing and outstanding fact of the lady who has contributed to this world so much is that she lead a very simple and poor life.

Although she had arguments with Lachapelle and she resigned but in between this he offered Marie raise and so much else, but she turned down all the offers and instead she worked at a hospital for prostitutes with lowest recompense.

In 1841, shortly after her retirement from practicing as a midwife, Lady Marie-Anne Victoire Gillain Boivin left this world, and sorrowfully when the time she died, she was living her life in poverty.

THE EVOLVING – PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

THE PAST

The gynecological speculums in the early times were made of steel and they were sterilized after use.

However the use stays the same and the instrument for dilating the sensitive portion of women for examination of the passage or hollow space.

The history through books and texts has revealed that the obstetrics were emphasized in early times too, and the use of medicine and instruments for diagnostics were used in regular routines.

Very first generation of the vaginal speculums was of cylindrical type, with single and several blades both, for various purposes.

So, it has been developed from the basic idea of human hand with all the fingers joined together and forms a shape of a cone and opened for exploring and examining.

Later the idea is carried out and many other shapes, designs were made to expand the use of it in the field of gynecology and diagnostics.

THE PRESENT – MODERN ERA

From the 16th century to the current scene many different health care personnel have vividly portrayed the use of this instrument, majorly in the field of gynecology for the purpose of examining the uterine cervix in the cases of cervical cancer.

It has been evolved from past times to this modern era with various changes, the blades that used in the instrument kept varying for multi-purpose, and to help examine better.

The material that used in making the instrument has been practiced with several experiments like wood, metal, plastic etc.

The design kept changing for the ease and comfort for the patient and the conductor too, what it looked like before and what it is now has changed a lot, and the benefits of it is admiring too.

The speculums used today for many purposes are made of plastic and metal too, plastic speculums are made for single use only and can be disposed off; they come in many different designs, single blade, multi blade, for different sizes of the vagina that may vary.

The safety measures have been taken care of, so the infection and disease can be evaded.

THE FUTURE – VISION

The most common problem still occurs during the surgical operations and examinations of the pregnant women or any patient with use of the speculum is the need for sufficient illumination to reduce the error and unintentional pain to the patient and supposed offensiveness by them.

It is anticipated that the design and creativity of this instrument would be taken to a next level with science and technology, and the next generation of the instrument would include the sufficient source of light which would ease-up the examination process and ultimately increase the efficiency and accuracy.

The design of the instrument is assumed to be slightly changed because of the disposability of the instrument and sterilizing procedures in its metal shapes, somehow the lighting source needs to be detachable.

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GongDongMedical