Importnace of Technology in Understanding Internal Body Systems

Technology has benefited people in hospitals and healthcare in such a positive way. The technology used to understand the internal body systems is life changing and can help detect and diagnose any problems in the digestive, circulatory or respitory system. The medical world's technology has come a long way and without many of these medical devices, we would be unable to save the many lives that we do today. Some of the examples of medical technology we use are:

Ultrasound: produces sound waves that are beamed into the body causing return echoes that are recorded to "visualize" structures beneath the skin. The ability to measure different echoes reflected from a variety of tissues allows a shadow picture to be constructed.

Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB): technique that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs during surgery, maintaining the circulation of blood and the oxygen content of the body. The CPB pump itself is often referred to as a heart–lung machine or "the pump".

MRI machines: uses a powerful magnetic field, radio frequency pulses and a computer to produce detailed pictures of organs, soft tissues, bone and virtually all other internal body structures.

X-ray generator: is a device used to generate X-rays. These devices are commonly used by radiographers to acquire an x-ray image of the inside of an object, but they are also used in sterilization or fluorescence.






We know techonology makes all the difference in medical history and Canadians have given contrubutions also. John Hopps, an electrical engineer at the University of Manitoba, invented the first cardiac pacemaker in 1950. When joined the National Research Council in 1941, he was conducting research on hypothermia and while experimenting with radio frequency, he made an unexpected discovery: if a heart stopped beating due to cooling, it could be started again by artificial stimulation mechanically or electronically. The device was too large to be implanted into the human body, therefore was an external pacemaker. This Canadian invention benefited the medical technology in a huge way. This is because the heart’s natural pacemaker is responsible for regulating the heart’s beats at a certain pace. But sometimes the natural pacemaker fails in doing so, which is where artificial pacemakers step in to take over the role of the heart’s natural pacemaker. This Canadian invention saves many lives.

Work Cited
http://heartwellnessstore.com/how-do-pacemakers-work
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcardiac.htm
http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/tests-treatment/mri.htm
http://www.medvet-cves.com/pdf/Cardiopulmonary_Bypass.pdf

Blogs I Commented On

http://ankerlovesbio.blogspot.com/2011/03/thank-you-for-technology.html?showComment=1306765585206#c9004569714302708051

http://sbi3u1carminachu.blogspot.com/2011/03/importance-of-technology-to-understand.html?showComment=1306765861105#c8749079263860955293