This is a Liebel-Flarsheim Ultra Short Wave Generator, model SW-400. Sadly, much of the veneer popped off from moisture on the trailer where it was stored. It also had a coating of mold growing on it and in it. I've cleaned off most of that.
The Ultra Short Wave Generator was an early diathermic device. Diathermy is used to increase blood flow and metabolism. Short wave diathermy can be used to relieve pain in deep muscles and joints: just as using a heating pad can relieve muscle tension or aches and pains, short wave diathermy applies heat to areas that can't be reached by heating pads. While this may look like a quack medicine device, it is very similar to diathermic devices manufactured today for treating rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
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| The guts of the machine. |
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| This looks like something out of a 1930s sci-fi movie. |
There were a number of companies that made these devices during the early 1900s. If you want to really explore the varieties of medical devices from this era, visit electrotherapymuseum.com.
I will not be powering up this device. From what I've read, it operates on a frequency that can wreak havoc with electrical equipment.
Liebel-Flarsheim also made X-ray equipment. The company was founded by John George Henry Liebel (1891-19??) and Edwin S. Flarsheim (1894-1948) in 1917. They were, and still are, based in Cincinnati, although the company now operates as a division of Mallinkrodt, which bought them in 1996.
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| The back of the Liebel-Flarsheim device. |
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| Instructions for installing tubes, stapled to the inside back cover. |
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| Inside the front of the cabinet, where the paddles are stored. |
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| The paddles. Missing are the wands which could be placed on either side of the head or body without touching the patient. |
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