Sidney Yankauer, M.D. (1872-1932), an ear, nose and throat specialist and pioneer in bronchoscopy, practiced at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Dr. Yankauer might best be known for the tube he designed for suctioning the mouth and throat. Yankauer introduced the wire-mesh anesthesia mask around 1904. James Tayloe Gwathmey, M.D. (1862-1944) was one of the first physicians to have a full-time private anesthesia practice in the United States. By 1914, he modified the Yankauer Mask to administer oxygen with the anesthetic. Oxygen tubing attached to the port at the narrow end of the mask, and oxygen exited through the small holes around the rim.
