ANZCA Bulletin June 2012 - final.pdf - Australian and New Zealand ...

A mad idea – orseveral – is just whatthe doctor orderedcontinuedAstonished to get the job, he workedalongside Dr Steptoe as the specialistdeveloped the technique of laparoscopy.Dr Campbell was still working at thehospital as Dr Steptoe began procuringhuman eggs from ovaries using alaparoscope, a precursor to IVF treatment,but moved to Australia nearly a decadebefore the first live birth in 1978.Living along the Pennines, where itgets cold, wet and windy, Dr Campbellgot fed up with the miserable weather.One day, having dug out the snow thathad blocked his driveway and garage,only to have the wind fill it up again, heturned to his wife and said: “Mary, wherecan we go where it doesn’t snow?” Herresponse was “What about Australia?”and a glance through the British MedicalJournal revealed an anaesthetic staffspecialist job advertised at the RoyalPrince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.He got the job and moved in 1969.One of his first duties was to design ananaesthetic tray that could store thedaily supply of anaesthetic ampoules.Flicking through the Yellow Pages,he found an advertisement for UlcoEngineering, which made specials toorder and was willing to do medicalwork. They took on the productionof the anaesthetic tray, and so beganDr Campbell’s long and productiveassociation with the company and itsmanaging director, John Uhlir.His next invention was a pneumaticlifting trolley, operated by two carbondioxide cylinders, which could liftpatients off the bed, transport them, andlower them onto the operating table. Itcould tilt patients up and down, and alsohad a radiotranslucent sheet to enableX-rays to be taken.Ulco made a prototype, trials wereconducted and a few were sold toAustralian hospitals, but demand andprofit margins were low and productionceased.But his next invention hit the jackpot.For some time, even before he cameto Australia, Dr Campbell had beenfrustrated with the ventilators availableand wanted to design a robust andversatile ventilator for theatre use thatcould be used on all ages, with theparameters – pressure, volume, flow andtime – all controlled by the anaesthetist.First he needed to find an alternativeMcKrScan LRto an electronic control system as, at thattime, there was considerable concernabout the dangers of micro and macroshock in the operating theatre, as wellas possible explosive hazards fromflammable anaesthetics.His breakthrough came when, literallyinspired by rocket science, he learnt thatlong-range rockets used a system of fluidiccontrols to withstand severe vibrationsand magnetic forces.Having sourced through Ulco someminiature fluidic control modules, in 1973Dr Campbell made his first prototype.“It took up a lot of space with a massof spaghetti-like tubing connecting thevarious components, but it worked,”he says.He crammed all the workings intoa plastic lunch box and took it to Ulcoand various manufacturing companiesto gauge their interest. CommonwealthIndustrial Gases (CIG) was tempted andsaid they’d get back to him. He’s stillwaiting.The main obstacle to production wasthat the mass of tubes made assembly toocomplicated. But inspired by transistorradios, where all the wiring was replacedby circuit boards, he designed a templateso that channels could be engraved on aboard for mounting the fluidic elements.The channels could then be sealed with aback plate to eliminate connecting errors.He returned to Ulco and Mr Uhlirwas hesitant but said he would make26 ANZCA Bulletin June 2012