Measurements

Isn't it interesting how we can use things daily but not know all that much about them? For example, I routinely use orogastric tubes and large bore central lines that are measured in "French" without knowing exactly what a "French" is. This may seem strange, but how many of us worry about the number of megabytes an attachment is or the miles per gallon we get on our car? It's easy to use something practically without focusing too much on extraneous details.

But out of curiosity, I looked into it. A French sized catheter is three times the diameter in millimeters, a system invented by Joseph-Frédéric-Benoît Charrière, a 19th century French surgical instrument maker. In thinking about this, I realized I didn't know where needle gauges came from. Apparently, needle sizes are derived from the Birmingham Wire Gauge system (also called the Stubs Iron Wire Gauge system) that specifies the thickness or diameter of metal wire, strip, and tube products. According to Wikipedia, it is the only wire gauge system recognized in the United States by an Act of Congress. Strange how history plays out and becomes ingrained in something we use every day without recognizing its odd nomenclature and past. Good thing I don't have to learn about sutures.