Before the invention of the polio vaccine, the iron lung supported patients whose lungs were weakened or paralyzed by polio. This is its impact today.

The device saved the lives of thousands of patients ... by creating negative pressure around the chest, causing the lungs to expand and pull in air,” explains Dr. Jim Mendez, a clinical ...

The iron lung, conceptualized in the late 1920s, was most notably the first line of defense against polio during the epidemics that occurred between 1948 to 1955. The device saved the lives of ...

Patients would lay down with their head resting outside the chamber, with the device enclosed around their body, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The iron lung used negative ...