Heinrich von Recklinghausen

Heinrich von Recklinghausen (April 17, 1867 - December 12, 1942) was a German physician and scientist who was a native of Würzburg. After receiving his medical doctorate in 1895, he worked as an assistant in several hospitals. In 1902 he moved to Bern, where he worked in the Physiological Institute of Hugo Kronecker (1839-1914). During World War I he was a military physician in Strasbourg, and afterwards performed scientific research in Heidelberg and Munich. He was the son of pathologist Friedrich Daniel von Recklinghausen (1833-1910).

Recklinghausen is primarily remembered for his study of blood pressure, and contributions made in the science of blood pressure measurement. He is credited for making improvements to Scipione Riva-Rocci's (1863-1937) sphygmomanometer by increasing the size of the pressure cuff from 5cm to 10cm. During the 1930s he devised an oscillo-tonometer; a device used to measure systolic and diastolic blood pressure. It consisted of two overlapping cuffs; a large cuff to perform basic sphygmomanometer functions, and a smaller cuff to amplify pulsations that take place when the larger cuff is deflated. With Recklinghausen's oscillotonometer, a stethoscope was not needed to listen for Korotkoff sounds, they were instead represented as oscillations of a needle on a pressure gauge.

For much of his life, Recklinghausen maintained an avid interest in philosophy and metaphysics. Although he published no books on these subjects, he left behind copious notes concerning his beliefs, and maintained an ongoing correspondence with philosophers Heinrich Rickert (1863-1936), Paul Hensel (1860-1930) and Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965).

Written works

 * Ueber Blutdruckmessung beim Menschen. (Blood Pressure Measurement of humans) Arch Exp Pathol Pharmakol 46 (1901) 78
 * Unblutige Blutdruckmessung. (Blood Pressure Measurement) Arch Exp Pathol Pharmakol 55 (1906) 375
 * Was wir durch die Pulsdruckkurve und durch die Pulsdruckamplitude über den großen Kreislauf erfahren. Arch Exp. Pathol 56 (1906) 1
 * Neue Apparate zur Messung des arteriellen Blutdrucks beim Menschen. (New apparatuses for the measurement of the arterial blood pressure of humans) Münchn Med Wochenschr 60 (1913) 817
 * Gliedermechanik und Lähmungsprothesen. (Mechanics and Paralysis Prostheses) 2 Bd., Berlin 1920
 * Eine neue Pumpe zur Blutdruckmessung am Menschen. (A new pump for Blood Pressure Measurement of humans} Dtsch Arch Klin Med 146 (1925) 212
 * Rechtsprofil und Linksprofil in der Zeichenkunst der alten Ägypter. (Profiles in the indication art of Ancient Egyptian) Z Ägypt Sprache Altertumskunde 63 (1927) 14
 * Druckschriftreform. Zwei Abhandlungen zur Fraktur-Antiqua-Frage. (Block letter reform, two papers for German-type Antiqua question) Mitt Akad Wiss Erforschung Pflege Deutschtum (Deutsche Akademie; 2. Heft (1929)
 * Neue Wege der Blutdruckmessung. (New Methods of Blood Pressure Measurement); Berlin 1931
 * Blutdruck-Meßmanschette mit Hilfen zur Aufbringung am Oberarm. (Blood pressure measuring seal with assistance for applying at the upper arm) Münchn Med Wochenschr 79 (1932) 1238
 * Blutdruckmessung und Kreislauf in den Arterien des Menschen. (Blood Pressure Measurement and cycles in arteries) Dresden 1940.