Anne Chamney

Anne Rosemary Chamney was born in Amersham on 16 April 1931 to Eleanor Margery Hampshire and Ronald Martin Chamney.[2][3] She had one older brother John, born in 1928. According to the 1911 census, her father Ronald was an engineer with the National Telephone Company[4] and held a BSc in engineering.[5] As a young child, Chamney was ambidextrous.[6] She attended an all girls school from the age of nine until she was 16.[2] She earned an MS in biomechanics at the University of Surrey[7] and a PhD in physiology which focussed on the effect of carbon monoxide during pregnancy in rats, which influenced later research into the effect of smoking on humans during pregnancy.[2]

Chamney studied at the Royal Aeronautical Society and became an apprentice at the De Havilland Aircraft Company in Hatfield from 1953 to 1958.[8] She moved to become a Technical Assistant in the Medical Development Group[9] at the British Oxygen Company between 1959 and 1961.[2] Chamney patented an apparatus for humidifying gases in 1960 whilst working there.[10]

Later she became a senior technician at University College Hospital Medical School in London where she evaluated hospital equipment. Whilst working there, in 1966 she invented of a novel oxygen tent which was much cheaper than existing tents, it was also lighter and therefore easier to transport.[11][12] The oxygen tent was published in The Lancet in 1967[13] and received international publicity, with coverage in the United States stating that her invention cost only $50 when other oxygen tents cost up to $750.[14] She credited being able to work closely with medical staff and developing clinical knowledge as being vital to the development of relevant and useful medical equipment.[7]

By 1985, Chamney was Chief Technician in the Department of Anesthesia at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.[15]

Chamney was awarded the first James Clayton Prize in Medical Engineering from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and received an additional award in acknowledgement of her research and development work.[16][17][7]

Chamney was also a Fellow of the Irish Genealogical Research Society[18] and a member of the Women's Engineering Society.[19][20]

Anne Chamney died on 9 December 2008 and was cremated on 16 December at Hendon Cemetery and Crematorium in Barnet, London.[21]     

• Wayne, D.J., and Chamney, A.R. (1969) Oxygen tent performance. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 14(9) Oxygen tent performance
• Wayne, D.J., and Chamney, A.R. (1969) Oxygen tents: A comparison of two techniques. Anaesthesia, 24(4) Oxygen tents.: A comparison of two techniques
• Chamney, A.R. (1969) Humidification Requirements and Techniques. Including a Review of the Performance of Equipment in Current Use, 24(4) Humidification requirements and techniques.: Including a review of the performance of equipment in current use