From the late 18th to early 20th centuries medical researchers became increasingly interested in the use of electricity as a tool of medicine. Instruments like the galvanometer and the chemical battery produced remarkable interest and optimism among medical professionals for applying electricity to health and medicine. Meanwhile electricity took hold of the popular imagination as new technologies such as the electric light, the telegraph, and the electric streetcar entered daily life.
Over the first half of the 20th century, practical medical technologies began to emerge from this period of early enthusiasm.