• DOI:10.1213/00000539-196811000-00015
• Corpus ID: 28322668

The Fluid Amplifier and its Application in Medical Devices

@article{Meyer1968TheFA,
  title={The Fluid Amplifier and its Application in Medical Devices},
  author={J. A. Meyer and James W. Joyce},
  journal={Anesthesia \& Analgesia},
  year={1968},
  volume={47},
  pages={710–716}
}

• J. Meyer, J. W. Joyce
• Published 1 November 1968
• Engineering
• Anesthesia & Analgesia

The word “amplifier” suggests to most persons an electronic component used in the control or switching of a flow of electrons. Fluid amplification is analogous; however, rather than a flow of electrons, a stream of fluid, either a liquid or a gas, is controlled or switched. This fluid is forced to flow through channels of certain geometric configuration cut in a block of solid material. The fluid amplifier controls and switches the fluid stream without electronics and with no moving parts. This latter feature, with its ability to function in extremes of temperature, vibration] and shock, makes fluid amplification systems highly reliable and maintenance free. The principles underlying the fluid amplifier have been known for many years. The “Coanda effect]” named for a Roumanian engineer working in fluids in the 19309,‘ Bernoulli’s principle, and the venturi effect are all utilized. It is only since 1961, however, that the concept of fluid amplification as it is known today has been developed.