A simple apparatus for measuring the blood urea, manufactured by Dr. Luigj Benusi in 1943 in Albania

• Main Authors: Flamur Tartari, Stiliano Buzo, Gentian Vyshka
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2009-10-01
• Series: Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine
• Subjects: Blood urea nitrogen; Ambard law; Hypobromite; Kowarsky method
• Online Access: https://jmehm.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jmehm/article/view/48

The apparatus invented by Dr. Luigj Benusi in 1943, in Tirana, was a practical application of the Kowarsky technique and Ambard laws, helping in determining blood urea levels and very important to a variety of diseases, mainly kidney disorders. The apparatus was invented and prepared from very simple laboratory materials, such as glasses, test tubes, corks and volumetric cylinders. Technologically, it was based upon the determination of blood urea through hypobromite, and, among the advantages of the apparatus of Benusi, were its extreme simplicity, the smaller amount of blood needed for producing results (2 milliliters), as well as an easiest way to clean up and to manage the apparatus from a practical point of everyday use.