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’a spiral-fetotome
Description: “embryotome, a cutting tool. The fetotome is a wire saw mounted on a stand, designed for performing fetotomies.” (Source: Állatorvosi értelmező szótár. Ed. Gallyas Csaba, Holló Ferenc. Budapest, Mezőgazdasági Kiadó, 1984. p. 234.)
“In cases where the abnormality can be corrected using a sliding saw loop, simpler instruments may be employed, all of which are characterised by a rigid frame formed by a flexible steel wire spiral. The original model for this is the large-scale Glättli spiral fetotome…. In order to retain the advantages of the Glättli’s spirals (cost-effectiveness), Bölcsházy designed the metal strap securing the spirals in a manner similar to the Meyer-Schlichting fetotome concept, but in such a simple design that even a less skilled instrument maker could produce it. The Meyer-Schlichting pocket fetotome essentially consists of two spiral tubes, which are thinner than Glättli’s spirals, and which are held together at their inner ends by a movable metal clamp of complex construction. This eliminated the difficulties associated with securing Glättli’s spirals. Bölcsházy modified this highly practical device in the following ways to meet practical requirements. He set the diameter of the coils at 20–25 mm to prevent the wire saw from jamming and to make threading the wire saw easier, and he simplified the metal strap serving as the handle so that, on the one hand, it would securely fasten the wire spirals, and on the other hand, its manufacture – and thus its procurement – would be significantly cheaper.” (Source of the description of the tool and the image: Cseh Sándor: Állatorvosi szülészeti műtéttan. Budapest, Mezőgazdasági Kiadó, 1955. pp. 211–212.)
Year: Before 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.)
Source of the image: Lővey Pál: Magyarország világkiállítási pavilonjai. In: Magyar EXPO sikerek, 1851-2021: kiállítási katalógus. Budapest, Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum, 2022. pp. 15–27. https://real.mtak.hu/159206/1/Expo_L%C5%91veiP%C3%A1l_15-28.pdf
