Biomedical engineering in the early U.S. aerospace program

Much of the bioinstrumentation in the early U.S. aerospace program in the 1950's was undertaken by the U.S. Air Force, first at Randolph Field, TX, and then at Brooks AFB, TX. We document here some of the equipment and some of the experiences encountered by the early experimenters. This period coincided with the introduction of solid-state circuitry into biomedical instrumentation and also strongly influenced research into the electrochemical interface between metal electrodes and the ionic body environment. The author recalls much of his own early work, as well as his recollections of some of the other early researchers.