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Q: The Campbell Splint ( No Answer,   2 Comments )
Question  
Subject: The Campbell Splint
Category: Reference, Education and News > Teaching and Research
Asked by: claywork-ga
List Price: $50.00
Posted: 11 Aug 2002 12:27 PDT
Expires: 10 Sep 2002 12:27 PDT
Question ID: 53314
In 1950 I was born without and acetabulum or hip joint. My grandmother
then invented "The Campbell Splint" which I wore for the first 3 years
of my life.  The idea was to keep ones legs spread apart to put
pressure on the pelvis to create an acetabulum from/for the top of the
femur.  It worked.  She lived in California and went to Los Angeles,
California, with it to a prominent doctor.  She hoped they could
patten it. Well he did, and called it "The Campbell Splint".  She
never received a penny.  There was an article in Los Angeles Times
about it with the doctors picture, probably in the late
50's.  I just wonder whatever happened to this project.  If it went on
to help children.  And if it was really pattened.  She even had x-rays
that documented my progress.....but all are gone now.......So I guess
my question would be can you find any record of "The Campbell
Splint"??  Someone , actually a nurse, mentioned to me a few years ago
that there was even a Campbell Clinic back east in Oaklahoma or??
somewhere, that specialized in this sort of thing for small children
.....any thing is appreciated......

Well I can see from below this is probably a pricey question so I'll
start at $50

Request for Question Clarification by nvwriter-ga on 11 Aug 2002 12:51 PDT
I have found this page of devices, do any of them look like the device
your grandmother invented? If they do, I'll be happy to research the
right one more fully for you.
http://jacpoc.oandp.com/library/1982_02_007.asp

Request for Question Clarification by livioflores-ga on 11 Aug 2002 13:15 PDT
Hi Claywork !!
Can you give us the name of your grandmother and/or other doctors
involved in this. I guess that the last name of your grandmother is
Campbell.
It could help us to find the data that you need.

Regards
livioflores-ga

Request for Question Clarification by silviares-ga on 11 Aug 2002 19:11 PDT
Hello claywork-ga 

I looked in the patent database for the device you described. I
couldn't find anything under the name of Campbell but I found an
"Abduction mechanical device for treatment of dysphasia or congenital
luxation of the hip"
The search I did was "splint AND orthopedic AND hip AND newborn" 

  http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&p=1&S1=(((splint+AND+orthopedic)+AND+hip)+AND+newborn)&OS=splint+AND+orthopedic+AND+hip+AND+newborn&RS=(((splint+AND+orthopedic)+AND+hip)+AND+newborn)

This patent is from 1997 but it refers to some previous devices of the
same type.
The first is an "Abduction Splint for correcting hip dysplasia"
patented in May 1960 by Avice H. Kerr 

http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=02935984&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect2%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPALL%2526S1%3D2935984.WKU.%2526OS%3DPN%2F2935984%2526RS%3DPN%2F2935984&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=1C349D31A9C7

The second is called "Orthopedic Appliance" patented in Dec. 1963 by
Ray W. Richmond

http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=03114368&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect2%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPALL%2526S1%3D3114368.WKU.%2526OS%3DPN%2F3114368%2526RS%3DPN%2F3114368&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=1690D6CF795A

It would be helpful if you could take a look at these patents and see
if any of these devices is the one your grandmother created for you.
Unluckily patents that are older than 1975 are only shown as images,
if you have problems viewing the images you should follow the
instruction in these page
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/images.htm and install the proper image
viewer recommended by the patent database builders.

Also do you recognize any of the names of the two inventors Kerr and
Richmond as the doctor your grandmother contacted ? Once again if the
patent is older than 1975 they do not show the state of the inventor
so I cannot tell if anyone of them is from California.

I also searched for information about the Campbell Clinic. I found one
in  Memphis Tennessee. While they do cure children with orthopedic
problems the clinic got its name from Dr. Willis C. Campbell and the
first Crippled Children's Hospital was started in 1919 (well before
your grandmother invention). For details on the history of the Clinic
you can look at  http://www.utmem.edu/ortho/clinical/ABOUTCC.HTM

If you could help in recognizing those devices we'll do our best to
find the information for you

silviares
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: The Campbell Splint
From: bitmaven-ga on 11 Aug 2002 15:34 PDT
 
claywork-ga: 

I was hunting around in the uspto figuring I might be able to find
something on 'acetabulum" and "Campbell" in a query.   I managed to
come across one patent recently filed in 1979 that referenced a
'Campbell Jr., et. al.' as prior works.   Their patent was approved in
1972, a bit late for your grandmother, but I figured I'd send out the
link as a comment.   Hope this helps.

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=ft80&S1=(acetabulum+AND+Campbell)&OS=acetabulum+AND+Campbell&RS=(acetabulum+AND+Campbell)

bitmaven-ga
Subject: Re: The Campbell Splint
From: voila-ga on 13 Aug 2002 11:42 PDT
 
FWIW, there's both a Campbell split and Campbell airplane splint in
"The Surgical Word Book," 2nd Edition by Claudia Tessier (offline
source).  I'll check some surgical sites when I have a minute.

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