The innovator: Kálmán Bölcsházy, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, professor at the Department and Clinic of Obstetrics from 1948 to 1966; researcher of the obstetric and reproductive biology issues in large-scale livestock farming in relation to animal nutrition; inventor and designer of numerous obstetric instruments. (Source: Hungarian Veterinary Pantheon (in Hungarian))
Other names: Bölcsházy’s automatic eye hook
Description: “To use the eye hook, thread the wire (6) through the threading ring (5) of the metal strap (1), then through the threading rings of the hook wings (7) and (8), and back to ring (5), through which we thread it again; holding the instrument in an open position in the palm of the hand, we first lower one hook, then the other, into the inner corners of the eyes. By then tightening the free ends of the wire, the wire automatically clamps the hook wings together via the rings, thereby providing a secure, non-slip connection.
When holding the hook by the head, first sink the hook into the inner corner of the eye on the far side, then into the one closest to you, whilst tightening the ends of the wire. The device sits perfectly in this position too and does not disengage from the eye socket even under strong lateral pulling.” (Source of the detailed description and image of the device: HU, Szabadalmi leírás : 144.478: Automatikusan összeszoruló szemhorog nagyállatok szülési segélynyújtásához / Bölcsházy Kálmán. Bejelentés: 1955-02-24. 1 p. 1 t. l. : ill. Közzétéve: 1958-11-15. 2 igénypont)
“Automatic eye hook. Practical experience shows that eye hooks threaded onto an obstetric rope or chain – particularly in cases of head-down presentation – can only be inserted into the eye socket with great difficulty. During the necessary pauses whilst pulling, when the tension in the rope or chain used for pulling decreases, one or both eye hooks can easily slip out of the eye socket.
These problems are eliminated by the Bölcsházy automatic eye hook. The device consists of a strap made from 20 mm wide and 3.5 mm thick shaped steel strip, and hook shanks that are attached to this with screws and fit the head well. The strap is slightly curved – to follow the contour of the bridge of the nose – and, to accommodate the screws securing the arms, each arm is fitted with several screw-free holes to allow for adjustment. There is a raised rim on the edge of the strap facing us, which allows the hook wings to rotate in only one direction. A steel ring is attached along the strap’s transverse centre line for threading obstetric steel wires. There is also a steel ring at the end of each wing’s upper edge, whilst the hooks fit into a backward-curving arch at the very end of the wings’ inner surface.
To prepare the described eye hook for use, thread the obstetric wire through the rings (starting from the strap’s ring, then through the hook wings and back to the ring), then, with the instrument in the open position and the hooks facing forwards, we hold it transversely in the palm of the hand (with the head extended), and insert first one hook and then the other into the inner corner of the eye. Now we tighten the wire stems; the wire automatically squeezes the hook wings together via the rings, thereby creating a secure, non-slip connection… Another advantage of the automatic eye hook is that it extends the reach of the hand, making it easy to hook into the eye socket further away from us.” (Source of the detailed description and the images: Cseh Sándor: Állatorvosi szülészeti műtéttan. Budapest, Mezőgazdasági Kiadó, 1955. pp. 119–121.)
Year: 24 February 1955
Interesting: “The instruments developed by Bölcsházy were also featured at international exhibitions. His obstetrics kit, for example, was exhibited at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels. It is also worth quoting the news item that appeared in the columns of Szabad Föld because of the other instruments: “Among the Hungarian instruments well known abroad, we are exhibiting, for example, the car speedometer camera, the vascular suturing device, Bölcsházy’s veterinary instruments, the most modern blood pressure monitor, and the automatic cotton grading machine….” (Source: Milassin Béla: Találkozó a Heysel-park ősfái alatt. Szabad Föld, 1958. 14. 4. p. 45.)
Translation aided by DeepL.com (free version)
