Composition I
19 Feb 2008
Advances in Medical Technology
Medical Technology has developed to a great extent over the course of many centuries. Since the days of Hippocrates, considered the “Father of Medicine”, advances in the medical field have brought us into a brave new world. With the advent and application of modern technology, the medical field seems to have evolved more in the last 10-20 yrs than in the previous 1000 years. Recently, new ground has been broken throughout the field, involving medical techniques, surgical procedures, and electronic devices. Such advancements have streamlined the practice and science of medicine in the 21st century.
One form of advancement in Technology that has simplified the record
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Thanks to advances in the science of Bionics, it is difficult to tell which one is artificial.
Similarly, research into the field of Implantable Biochips has led to innovations in monitoring vital signs and personal information for soldiers on the battlefield. The Center for Bioelectronics, Biosensors, & Biochips, Based at Clemson University, is among the leading manufacturers of these Biochips. In an article in Science Daily based on materials provided by Clemson University, it is stated that “The biochip, about the size of a grain of rice, could measure and relay such information as lactate and glucose levels in the event of a major hemorrhage, whether on the battlefield, at home or on the highway”.
Furthermore, we’ve seen advances in Medical Technology concerning how surgeries are performed in the 21st Century. As computers become more and more integrated into medical procedures, we can start to envision surgical procedures that are done robotically. One of the latest innovations in Robotic Surgery is the Da Vinci Robot Surgery System, from Intuitive Surgical. An article in Newsweek written by Jennifer Barrett entitled “Cutting Edge”, states that “The robotic system has already transformed the field of prostate surgery, for which it was approved in May 2001. That year it was used in less than 1 percent of all prostatectomies. This year more than 20 percent will be done with the
Al). This includes the increase in dexterity, the restore of proper hand-eye coordination, and improvement of visualization (Meyers et al.). In Cameron Scott’s article from the Healthline News, “Is da Vinci Robotic Surgery a Revolution or a Ripoff?,” he states that robotic devices including the da Vinci surgical device succeeds well in urology and the removal of prostate. Prostate removal is extremely difficult for open surgery practice, however the da Vinci made is easier with about 90 percent of these kinds of surgeries are now done robotically (Scott). Some evidence even suggest that with robotics used in prostatectomy, there is less blood loss, faster recovery, and fewer internal scarring (Scott.). There are many other examples from hospitals and manufactures that support the uses of robotic surgery and its benefits. However, even though these new technologies of robotic devices are supposedly be helping patients and making surgeries less invasive, they are still many concerns of how they should be properly regulated.
Robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy is a minimally invasive procedure to remove the entire prostate gland and the seminal vesicles. This procedure is done to treat prostate cancer that has not spread to other parts of the body (metastasized). The goal of the procedure is to remove all cancer cells and to prevent prostate cancer from metastasizing.
(Guest speaker for summer conference. He talks about how technology can be utilized in medical field and how it helped him get through difficult
Imagine what our world would be like without x-rays, without heart monitors, and without advanced surgical tools; how would doctors diagnose, treat, or cure any patient? How would we survive as a society if we did not have this medical technology readily available to us? This is the reality of a world without Biomedical Engineering. The Imperial College of London defines Biomedical Engineering as “a discipline that advances knowledge in engineering, biology and medicine, and improves human health through cross-disciplinary activities that integrate the engineering sciences with biomedical sciences and clinical practice” (Reyes-Guerra). In today’s society, there are new advancements being made in technology every second, especially in the medical field. What many people do not usually realize is that the research and products are being done and produced by biomedical engineers. As this technology continues to progress, biomedical engineers have begun to change the way medical professionals approach a situation due to their research and production of artificial organs and limbs, however, these advancements lead people to question the necessity and ethics behind the topic. The research being done by biomedical engineers is beginning to open up new doors in the medical field, giving doctors and patients more options of treatment, new ways of diagnosis, and possibilities of artificial organs and limbs.
The 21st century can rightfully be considered as the era of technology when the new inventions and discoveries will most likely affect all the segments of human life. At this point, some of the breakthrough inventions of our times have been in the medical field. Robotic surgery has become an almost common practice in the advanced medical world and new uses for robotic assisted surgery are everyday set in place. However, such developments also attract different interests and implications.
“Last year, 73,000 American men — 86 percent of the 85,000 who had prostate cancer surgery — had robot-assisted operations,”.
The Da Vinci Surgical System is a large purpose-built robot controlled by a surgeon that performs minimally invasive surgical procedures on patients. The system incorporates an ergonomically designed surgeon's console, a patient-side module with four interactive robotic arms, each with interchangeable surgical instruments and a 3-dimensional endoscopic vision system. Powered by high-tech supercomputers, the surgeon's hand movements are scaled, filtered and then converted into precise movements of the surgical attachments. The designers of the system are a team of doctors, engineers and biomedical engineers at a company called Intuitive Surgical.
During this type of surgery, the surgeon uses robotic arms instead of his own because they are similar to the human wrist and can be maneuvered more easily. However, in order to be able to operate, the surgeon has to view the operation through a heart monitor. Meanwhile, during the operation, one surgeon team is operating on the patient, while another is changing out the tools as needed (Mayo Clinic). As technology in the medical field continues to advance “artificial intelligence may well help solve the most complex problems humankind faces, like curing
Technology permeates every domain of critical care and has contributed to rising survival rates. The technological innovation grew out of boundaries, changing all industries involved. In health care, the advancement in science and technology play an important role in almost all process from patient registration to data monitoring, from lab tests to self-care.
New technologies have changed our lives by being involved in every aspect of our life. The usage of new technologies in medical field has caused a lot of change in this field. Recently, researchers at Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have done a project on “Organs on Chips” in which they have made chips that simulate the functions, action and reactions of body organs. Basically, these chips re used for medical experiments and testing to study body organs reactions to different drugs and situations.
The world of medicine is a diverse and complex field. From treatments to diagnostics to technologies, medicine has a broad span of information. It had taken a tremendous amount of time for medicine to evolve. Medicine has gone through many hardships, difficulties, and obstacles in aiding civilizations throughout the years to become the developed practice we know today.
Over the course of many centuries, medical technology has developed to a great extent. Studies show that recent equipment has evolved more in the last ten to twenty years than in the past thousand years. Before human time, people learned to treat themselves by just using natural substances. Now-a-days, our hi-tech systems in the medical field have been created for the most effective tools for a high level of patient care. While they advance the tools, it will then allow for quicker diagnosis, less pain, and fewer costs, which in the end will help save more lives. Some people are accepting that modern technology can buy them more time to live while others might find it quite alarming because they fear
In today’s medical field technology plays a big role when it comes to patient care. Technology is huge when it comes to giving the patient the best type of quality care when they are in the hospital. In the old days people would just write it down on a sheet of paper and record it by hand, which caused mistakes. Now with the Electronic Health Record those mistakes are drastically declining. Statistics have shown that using the Electronic Health Record has lowered Nursing mistakes as well as improved patient care. Our society has progressed through the years and has been introduced with the Electronic Health Record which has drastically improved our health care system. The Electronic Health Record provides great communication between
Besides the computer revolution, medical advances have caused tension between faith and reason. The medical advances of the Twentieth Century have many beneficial effects for humanity. Diseases that used to be dangerous or life threatening, like mumps, measles, and whooping cough, are no longer worries in todays medical world. Tetanus, typhoid, and the bubonic plaque can now be treated with antibiotics or other medicines. Vaccines, especially the polio vaccine, freed many people from the effects of a disease. Advances in heart surgery and organ transplants have saved many lives. Anesthetics and painkillers have been made to reduce or eliminate pain during surgery or a painful disease. Advances in cancer and AIDS have
Implantable Medical Devices (IMDs) are mostly used to monitor and help treat medical conditions. These include pacemakers, implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs), neuro stimulators and drug delivery systems, which help in managing many diseases [1] and thus provide substantial improvement in healthcare by saving innumerable lives. They help to achieve the vision of pervasive healthcare that is used for identification, monitoring, and treatment of patients. Therefore, these devices have already been deployed in the body of many patients. The use of IMDs for monitoring is expected to be grown further in the future. In 2005, the number of insulin pump users was nearly 245,000 and the growing rate that is expected for the insulin pump market is 9% from 2009 to 2016 [15]. In [16], as reported by Hanna et al., there are 25 million patients using