Barron Food Pump brochure. From the Conrad R. Lam Collection, Henry Ford Health System.
The Barron Food Pump
The Henry Ford Hospital medical and scientific staff began designing and obtaining patents on their medical equipment as early as the 1920's. The staff worked in unison to provide new designs to assist in patient care. This was the case in the design of the Barron Food Pump, which was a collaborative effort between Henry Ford Hospital and the Chrysler Corporation. The medical apparatus was designed by James Barron, M.D., Associate Surgeon of the Division of General Surgery, and the engineering division of the Chrysler Corporation under the guidance of vice president James C. Zeder. Dr. Barron began his research on food pumps at the hospital in 1946 and spent twenty-five years developing the scientific data.
The Barron Food Pump was a device used to deliver pureed food to a patient through a small nasal gastric tube. It was significant in reducing the mortality rate from ulcerative colitis, assisted before and after digestive tract operations, and was an aid to the elderly who refused to take in food. The pump was produced by the Oro Manufacturing Company in Adrian, Michigan and was mechanically tested for five years with the Chrysler Corporation. The total cost for the pump, feeding tube, insulated bottle, ice container, and mesh strainer was under two hundred dollars. It came in two sizes, one for the bedside, and a larger model used by the dietary department for larger quantities of the "Barron formula." The aluminum pump was operated by an electrical power switch that forced strained food into a fine polyethylene tube by means of a metal roller. This created a constant flow of food into the patient without bedside assistance.
The Henry Ford Hospital dietary department would make forty to fifty quarts of formula a day for the standard patient feeding. The mixture included cooked ground meat, milk, canned fruit and vegetables, soft cooked eggs, and vitamins. The use of liquefied whole foods maintained the proper levels of nutrition, fluid, and electrolyte balance.
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