Diaphragm (optics) 1889 "Dictionary of Photography" (see figure), but disappeared after Ernst Abbe's theory of stops unified these concepts. According to Rudolf Kingslake, the inventor of the iris diaphragm is unknown. Others credit Joseph Nicéphore Niépce for this device, around 1820. Mr. J. H. Brown, a member of the Royal Microscopical Society, appears to have invented a popular improved iris diaphragm by 1867. Kingslake has more definite histories for some other diaphragm types, such as M. Noton's adjustable "cat eye" diaphragm of two sliding squares in 1856, and the Waterhouse stops of John Waterhouse in 1858. Diaphragm (optics) In optics, a diaphragm
Thoracic diaphragm Thoracic diaphragm The thoracic diaphragm, or simply the diaphragm (), is a sheet of internal skeletal muscle in humans and other mammals that extends across the bottom of the thoracic cavity. The diaphragm separates the thoracic cavity, containing the heart and lungs, from the abdominal cavity and performs an important function in respiration: as the diaphragm contracts, the volume of the thoracic cavity increases and air is drawn into the lungs. The term "diaphragm" in anatomy can refer to other flat structures such as the urogenital diaphragm or pelvic diaphragm, but "the diaphragm" generally refers to the thoracic diaphragm. In