Photo of Kay-Cross Disc Oxygenator, courtesy of the Dittrick Medical History Center.
Courtesy of hte Dittrick Medical History Center.

See a treasure trove of medical devices at campus museum

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the fall/winter 2024 edition of Think magazine. Visit https://case.edu/think/ to read more recent stories.

Remarkable stories unfold in the public museum galleries and research vaults at Case Western Reserve University’s Dittrick Medical History Center: the quest to improve disease diagnosis, advances in surgical procedures, the development of contraception.

With thousands of artifacts—more than can possibly be displayed—the Dittrick offers an intriguing record of the evolution of modern medicine.

“It’s a treasure trove,” said Amanda Mahoney, PhD, the Dittrick’s chief curator.

The pioneers whose technology is preserved at the museum include medical researchers with ties to CWRU and its predecessor schools.

See some of the devices in Think.