Takuo Aoyagi
Takuo Aoyagi | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 14, 1936 Niigata Prefecture, Japan |
| Died | April 18, 2020(aged 84) Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Alma mater | Niigata University |
| Known for | Pulse oximeter |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Engineering |
Takuo Aoyagi(Thanh liễu trác hùng,Aoyagi Takuo,February 14, 1936 — April 18, 2020)was a Japanese engineer, known for his work leading to the modernpulse oximeter.
Early life, education and career
[edit]Aoyagi was born February 14, 1936, inNiigata Prefecture,Japan.His parents were Monshichi and Tatsu Aoyagi. His father was a mathematics teacher and his mother was a homemaker.[1]
Aoyagi received an undergraduate degree inelectrical engineeringfromNiigata Universityin 1958.[1][2]He then worked for a time for the scientific instrumentation companyShimadzu Corporation,before moving to the research division of the medical equipment companyNihon Kohdenin 1971.[1][2]
Pulse oximetry
[edit]An earlier oximeter had been invented byGlen Millikan,building on work byKarl von Vierordt,Karl Matthes, and others.Earl Woodand his PhD student J. E. Geraci made some improvements.[2]These early devices were inaccurate and difficult to use.[1]The main idea was to measure the difference in how blood absorbed red light versus infrared light.
An obstacle was that thepulseof blood created a great deal of noise. Early devices tried to work around this by limiting measurement to the ear, and with other methods. Shortly after starting at Nihon Kohden in 1971, Aoyagi showed how to remove the noise from the measurement, leading to a practical and accurate measurement of oxygen in the blood. Similar ideas were developed slightly later by Masaichiro Konishi and Akio Yamanishi ofMinolta.[2]
Nihon Kohden submitted an application for apatenton the resulting device in 1974, which named Aoyagi and his colleague Michio Kishi (who helped create a pilot model) as co-inventors. The patent was granted in 1979.[2]
In 2007,World Health Organizationlisted pulse oximeter as an essential device for Surgical Safety Checklist for Patient.[3][4]
Later career
[edit]Nihon Kohden moved Aoyagi to a desk job in 1975, and only brought him back into their research group ten years later.[5][6]After returning to research, Aoyagi came back to ideas similar to those of the pulse oximeter. He developed a device, which he called a "pulse spectrophotometer", and which used these ideas to measure the diffusion of a dye injection in the bloodstream. This gave a relatively non-invasive way to measure liver blood flow and plasma volume.[5]
Death
[edit]Aoyagi died in Tokyo on April 18, 2020.[1][3]
Awards and honors
[edit]TheUniversity of Tokyogave Aoyagi a doctorate in engineering in 1993.[1]Aoyagi received theMedal with Purple Ribbonfrom theEmperor of Japanin 2002.[1]Aoyagi was the 2015 recipient of theIEEE Medal for Innovations in Healthcare Technology.[7]
References
[edit]- ^abcdefgSchwartz, John; Hida, Hikari (May 1, 2020)."Takuo Aoyagi, an Inventor of the Pulse Oximeter, Dies at 84".New York Times.RetrievedMay 2,2020.
- ^abcdeSeveringhaus, John W. (2007)."Takuo Aoyagi: Discovery of Pulse Oximetry".Anesthesia & Analgesia.105(On Line Suppl). Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health): S1–S4.doi:10.1213/01.ane.0000269514.31660.09.ISSN0003-2999.PMID18048890.S2CID10109200.
- ^abGoodrich, Joanna (May 22, 2020)."Takuo Aoyagi, Inventor of the Pulse Oximeter, Dies at Age 84".IEEE Spectrum.IEEE.RetrievedMay 28,2020.
- ^"WHO Surgical Safety Checklist".WHO.RetrievedMay 28,2020.
- ^abSeveringhaus, John W. (2011). "Monitoring oxygenation".Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing.25(3). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 155–161.doi:10.1007/s10877-011-9284-2.ISSN1387-1307.PMID21717228.S2CID195330071.
- ^Smith, Harrison (May 4, 2020)."Takuo Aoyagi, whose pulse oximeter helps hospitals fight coronavirus, dies at 84".Washington Post.RetrievedMay 4,2020.
- ^"IEEE Medal for Innovations in Healthcare Technology Recipients: Takuo Aoyagi".IEEE. Archived fromthe originalon December 3, 2019.RetrievedMay 2,2020.
Further reading
[edit]Aoyagi, Takuo (1992).Pulse oximetry: Its origin and development.IEEE. pp. 2858–2859.doi:10.1109/iembs.1992.5761726.ISBN0-7803-0785-2.