In 1930, he designed a new type of micromanipulator which was valuable in early physiology studies and later saw use in assembly of electronic components.
[1] Emerson's father encouraged him to work on an artificial respirator after noticing the beginning of a polio epidemic.
His final improvement was the addition of a transparent positive pressure dome, allowing ventilation when the chamber was opened to care for the patient.
[2] In the mid-1940s, following a suggestion of Dr. Alvin Barach, Emerson perfected the Thunberg barospirator, which caused respiration without moving the lungs at all.
[3] Emerson was involved with the development of high-altitude flight valves and SCUBA gear for the Navy shortly before World War II.
Late in the twentieth century he assisted Alvin Barach in developing the "In-Exsufflator Cough Machine", a device to aid in secretion removal in patients with neuromuscular disease.