Education
In 1870 he earned his medical degree from the University of Pavia, where he studied as an alumnus of Borromeo College.
physician university professor
In 1870 he earned his medical degree from the University of Pavia, where he studied as an alumnus of Borromeo College.
He was the elder brother of aviation pioneer Enrico Forlanini. Afterwards, he joined the staff of the Ospedale Maggiore in Milan, and later served as a professor at the universities of Turin (from 1884) and Pavia (from 1889), where in 1900 he was appointed chair of clinical medicine. Forlanini specialized in research of tuberculosis and respiratory disorders.
In the 1880s he constructed an apparatus for inducing artificial pneumothorax ("collapsed lung") as a therapeutic treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis.
His apparatus introduced nitrogen into the pleural cavity by way of a large hypodermic needle, and in doing so, produced pneumothorax. In 1906 Christian Saugman (1864-1923) improved the device by adding a water manometer for measurement purposes.
This technique is no longer in use to treat tuberculosis. Today the "Carlo Forlanini Institute" in Rome is named in his honor (founded 1934).