Since 1921, these forever useful tools have been produced right here in Illinois. Riverbank Laboratories in Geneva specializes in high quality, low cost tuning forks made from a non-rusting, non-tarnishing, non-magnetic aluminum alloy. This combination is designed to produce a pure tone, one that will still hold even after many years of use.
In medicine, the Rinne Test is a common method used by Audiologists to test for hearing loss. A humming tuning fork is held to your skull and, with a stopwatch, a doctor times how long you can hear it. In addition, when X-Rays aren’t readily available, tuning forks can come in handy. Just hold a ringing tune fork over the site of the injury can determine if a bone is broken. Tuning fork therapy has also become quite popular; passing a vibrating tuning fork over a body is thought to improve mental clarity and physical energy.
Tuning forks are also responsible for police radar guns. To calibrate a radar gun, police will aim it at a tuning force specially designed to vibrate at 50 miles per hour. If the radar gun does not register at that same speed, it needs to be adjusted.
Riverbank Laboratories is based in Representative Steve Andersson’s 65th District, and in the heart of his home town of Geneva. Andersson says, “These tools have been around for centuries, and are useful in many different ways for so many fields. It is nice to know that they are produced right here, at a well-respected manufacturing company within District 65. Not only is this a great company, but it produces something that contributes immensely for medical diagnostics, school science experiments, healing and sounds therapy, radar gun calibration and musical instrument tuning both here in our community and nationwide.”
Riverbank Laboratories can be found at 18 South 8th Street, Geneva Il 60134, and can be contacted at (630) 232-2207.