
Gustaw Bikeles (September 1, 1861 – November 4, 1918) was an Austro-Hungarian physician and pioneer of neurophysiology. Bikeles sign is a clinical test used for determining neurological damage in the upper arm.
Bikeles was born in
Lemberg
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
(then part of Austro-Hungary, now Lviv in Ukraine) in a Jewish family. He studied locally before going to Berlin to study philosophy but quit to study medicine in Vienna. Graduating in 1890 he began to work with
Richard von Krafft-Ebing
Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing (full name Richard Fridolin Joseph Freiherr Krafft von Festenberg auf Frohnberg, genannt von Ebing; 14 August 1840 – 22 December 1902) was a German psychiatrist and author of the foundational work '' Psychopath ...
and
Heinrich Obersteiner
Heinrich Obersteiner (13 November 1847 – 19 November 1922) was an Austrian neurologist born in Vienna.
In 1870 earned his doctorate from the University of Vienna, where he worked in the laboratory of Ernst Wilhelm von Brücke (1819–1892). In ...
. He then moved to the
Jan Kazimierz University
The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko.
The university is the oldest institution of higher ...
working on neurology. He became a lecturer in 1900, associate professor in 1906 and full professor in 1913. During
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
he moved to Vienna.
Bikeles studied nervous disorders particularly involving neurodegeneration such as
multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...
. He noted inflammatory changes during the course of the disease. He collaborated with
Adolf Beck
The Adolf Beck case was a notorious incident of wrongful conviction by mistaken identity, brought about by unreliable methods of identification, erroneous eyewitness testimony, and a rush to convict the accused. As one of the best known cause ...
with experiments on dogs, cats and rabbits to examine nerve tissue using electrical signals. Bikeles sign is an established orthopaedic and neurological test to detect damage in the nerves of the upper arm and spine.
One of his students was
Eufemiusz Herman.
Bikeles was killed by a stray bullet during the
battle of Lviv.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bikeles, Gustaw
1861 births
1918 deaths
Neurologists from Austria-Hungary
Physicians from Austria-Hungary
Austrian war casualties
Jews from Austria-Hungary
Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe)