[Adaptation of Einthoven's string galvanometer for electrocardiography in the Netherlands]

After the Dutch physiologist Willem Einthoven (1860-1927) published the construction of his string galvanometer in 1901, the development of electrocardiography in the Netherlands was slow. During the next twenty years only a few string galvanometers were in use in the Netherlands, mostly in physiology laboratories. Publications concerning electrocardiographic tests on patients were scarce. In 1924, Einthoven was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine for discovering the mechanism of the electrocardiogram. From that moment onwards, electrocardiography developed rapidly in the Netherlands and during the following 30 years particular use was made of the French string galvanometer designed by Boulitte.