The innovator: Ákos Azary (1850–1888) physician, surgeon, veterinary surgeon, full professor, head of the department of internal medicine from 1882 to 1888; lecturer in veterinary epidemiology and state veterinary medicine. His work, though he was given such a short time, created a new era in the teaching and practice of veterinary internal medicine.
(Source: Hungarian Veterinary Pantheon in Hungarian)
Other name: Azary’s pleximeter
Description: A plessimeter or percussion plate and hammer is used for percussion. In large animals, the plessimeter is pressed into the intercostal space and conclusions concerning pathological changes in the lungs can be drawn from the sound generated by the percussion strokes of the hammer. Ákos Azary was an expert in diagnostics and percussion as well, and has also developed its instrument.
“The most useful and most used form of plessimeter is the Seitz plessimeter made of horn, modified by Azary (Figure 32.2), because it is easy to handle and can be fitted tightly into the rib cage.”
(Source: Marek József: Klinikai diagnosztika. Budapest : MOÁE, 1902. (Állatorvosi kézikönyvtár 6.) p.115.)
Source of the image: Collection of Veterinary History, World renowned achievements of Hungarian veterinary science. Temporary exhibition, 2011
Year: 1882–1888
Interesting:
In the bulletin of the royal Hungarian armed forces entitled Honvédségi Közlöny : Rendeleti Közlöny a Magyar Királyi Honvédség számára, 1889. 16. 39. p. 268 the ”Correction table for the corrections to be made in the 6th appendix of the book ’Provisional train equipment rules for the Hungarian Royal Hungarian Army‘ marked C-S” Azary’s plessimeter is included for the first time as a compulsory piece of the equipment for army veterinarians.
Azary’s plessimeter was featured in the agricultural pavilion at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair, where the College of Veterinary Medicine exhibited and won several awards for its high-quality exhibits.[1]
“The tapping of the plessimeter with a hammer produces a much stronger sound than the aforementioned methods of percussion and is therefore well suited to the examination of large organs and deeper organs. However, it has the disadvantage that the higher intensity vibrations travel further in the direction of the latitudinal and the longitudinal transverse directions and are therefore less suitable for detecting small deviations. The resistance of the tapped part is also more difficult to detect using the hammer; however, a sufficiently skilled hand can detect quite subtle variations in resistance.
Finger-to-finger tapping and hammer-to-plessimeter tapping can also be combined by tapping the plessimeter with the finger or, conversely, the finger with the hammer. Finger percussion or hammer percussion on the plessimeter can also be modified by tapping the plessimeter with the fingernail of the finger or with the end of the hammer that does not contain a rubber (Heubner tapping). This method of percussion is used only for the production of a metallic ringing, and is of very good service in this case, whereas in the determination of other tapping sounds, the strong, crackling noise produced in the process is very distracting; since the metallic ringing is in most cases presupposed by weak sounds, auscultation is usually necessary when using this method of percussion (see the metallic ringing percussion sound).”[2]
In the early 1950s, it was thought that plastic could substitute the Azary’s horn device. “Azary ‘s horn-plessimeter was completely replaced by a plastic plate that was bent to the right shape. It can be made at home from the handle of a worn toothbrush … The bristles are cut off with a sharp knife, then the whole handle is placed in boiling water … and bent. 6 cm of the end of the tooth-brush handle falls on the plate of the plessimeter, 2 cm on the bend, the rest of the handle together with the former brush blade forms the handle.”[3]
Éva Orbán
[1] A budapesti m. kir. állatorvosi főiskola a párisi nemzetközi kiállításon. Veterinarius, 1901. 24. 9. p. 268.
[2] Marek József: Klinikai diagnosztika. Budapest : MOÁE, 1902. (Állatorvosi kézikönyvtár 6.) p.116.)
[3] Hengl Rezső: Plessimeter műanyagból. Magyar Állatorvosok Lapja, 1951. 6. 12. p. 381.
