Truax, Greene & Co. Incubators

Truax, Green & Co was founded by Charles Truax in Cesar Rapids, Iowa with his father Galloway Truax, before eventually relocating to Chicago where greater opportunities existed. In addition to introducing new manufacturing techniques for modern medical equipment, Traux was also one of the first to introduce “aseptic” surgical instruments that physicians could easily sterilize prior to use (preventing cross over infections). Many of Truax’s instruments won important patents.

Truax, Greene was an early manufacturer of incubators in the United States, and their incubator is described in Charles Truax’s monolithic work “The Mechanics of Surgery” (Chicago, 1899). It is similar to the Tarnier/Auvard incubator, with an external boiler that circulates warm water through a coil beneath the infant for temperature control.

Last Updated on 10/18/26