Interrupter

An interrupter in electrical engineering is a device used to interrupt the flow of a steady direct current for the purpose of converting a steady electric field into a changing one. Frequently, the interrupter is used in conjunction with a coil to produce increased voltages either by a back emf effect or through transformer action in an induction coil.

Medical use

Bird's interrupter

The physician Golding Bird designed his own interrupter circuit for delivering shocks to patients from a voltaic cell through an induction coil. Previously, the interrupter had been a mechanical device requiring the physician to manually turn a cog wheel, or else employ an assistant to do this. Bird wished to free his hands to better apply the electricity to the required part of the patient. His interrupter worked automatically by magnetic induction and achieved a switching rate of around 5 Hz (five times per second). The faster the interrupter switches, the more frequently an electric shock is delivered to the patient and the aim is to make this as high as possible.