ABSTRACT
The use of noninvasive applications of ventilatory assistance can be traced to the 1800s where prototypes of the ‘Iron Lung’ were first used1. However, none of these devices were in general use when Drinker in 1928 developed the first electrically powered Iron Lung2. Jack Emerson in 1931 greatly improved upon Drinker’s original design and marketed a less expensive, lighter, quieter, and easier to operate unit3. However, because of the size of negative pressure ventilators and the inability to well coordinate gas delivery with patient demand, the use, in all but the rare neuromuscularly or neurologically diseased patient, has declined since the late 1970s4.
