Benjamin Franklin and the Flexible Catheter: An Unexpected Story
Benjamin Franklin wanted to help his brother, who was struggling to urinate.
Franklin's ingenuity extended far beyond electricity. In a letter to his brother John, he described a flexible urinary catheter he had helped devise for him. His search for a more comfortable alternative to rigid metal catheters reveals a deeply personal side of his inventiveness and an unexpected connection to the history of urology.
Sources and image credits
Benjamin Franklin to John Franklin, 8 December 1752, Founders Online:
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-04-02-0143
Historical recreation
This video uses AI-assisted historical recreations. The character, voice and scenes are dramatizations. The recreated letter is not a facsimile of the original.
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