In medicine, Boyle's machine[1] is the name given to the continuous-flow apparatus used by anesthesiologists to administer general anesthesia to patients (human or veterinary) in operating theaters.
Medical grade oxygen, nitrous oxide and inhalation anaesthetics can be administered to patients who are either breathing spontaneously or who have been paralyzed for the course of the surgical procedure using neuromuscular blocking drugs. Two breathing systems are usually present on the machine; one is the Magill's circuit or a universal Bain's breathing system, and less commonly, a circle absorber using soda lime granules to remove carbon dioxide exhaled by the patient.
The British anesthesiologist Dr. Henry Edmund Gaskin Boyle is credited with designing the first anesthesia machine in 1917, hence the name. Henry Boyle was a pioneering anesthesiologist. Born in Barbados, he qualified MRCS LRCP from St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. He is best remembered for the development of early anesthetic machines. Even until recently, an anesthesia machine for administering general anesthesia would often be referred to as a "Boyle's Machine" in honor of his contribution in this field. His design included cylinders for medical oxygen, nitrous oxide and a "Boyle's Bottle" to vaporize diethyl ether. His other contribution to anesthesia included the Boyle-Davis gag, which is still used today during tonsillectomy operations.
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