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Technology and Healthcare
Brittiany Garza
Wayland Baptist
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In 2014, a two-week-old newborn baby was born with a congenital heart defect.
With the help of 3D technology, the New York hospital was able to replicate the baby’s
heart to determine the best way to repair the heart. Stories such as this happen more often
than we think and without technology stories such as this and more would not have been
saved. Health technology, medical staff and the engineers behind the technology have
and continue to pave way to new technology to diagnose, treat and improve healthcare
but at a cost we are willing to pay.
We have seen major advancements in healthcare, treatment and medications in
recent years. Just imagine how far we have come. We can go as far back as biblical times.
Without the technology advancements that we have today, we have to ask ourselves, how
would we survive, how would be treated and what options, or lack of do we have? We
often take the healthcare technology for granted, we, unlike others who have seen
difference in the times, often think that everything is easily accessible, there HAS to be
some type of treatment or machine that could cure that ailment we have. We must
remember what it was like in the past in order to see how far we have come.
Imagine, a person walks into a health clinic and is plagued with an unknown
cause, but there is no technology, such as a X-ray machine, MRI, ultrasound machine or
even the stethoscope. All these devices aid in identifying a condition, internal bleeding or
broken bones and without these devices, a medical physician would have to perform
surgery in order to see what is going on inside. Aside from technology that helps
diagnose medical conditions, health information technology is widely depended on. We,
a technology savvy and reliant society, depend greatly all a wide variety of technology.
Medical information, real time data would not be readily available, at a phone call or
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click of a button. Everything we do at a hospital is paired with some type of technology,
even physician’s use technology while in patient visits. According to the SBI, 94% of
physicians use consulting apps, 40 % use digital devices and 2 in 5 physicians go online
while they are with patients (Spinabifada, 2011).
Looking back in history we see how far technology has evolved, as early as the
1200’s from the first magnifying glass to the first set of eyeglasses. Len’s, magnifying
glass have all improved and ultimately lead to the first usable microscope by Antony Van
Leeuwenhoek (History of the microscope). The microscope has allowed us to see objects
such as cells, particles, and organisms that are not visible by the naked eye. Although
today we see a much more advanced version of Leeuwenhoek’s microscope it has paved
way to knowledge, discovery and improved technology.
Two other widely used medical technologies were first discovered in the 1800’s,
the stethoscope and X-ray machine The Stethoscope, the instrument used by doctors, just
about every visit, which allows the doctor to listen to the internal sounds of humans (and
animals). French physician Rene Laennec invented the first stethoscope in 1816, all
because he was simply uncomfortable to put his head to the chest of a woman patient
(Roguin, A.). However the design was much different than what we see today. The
Stethoscope had a long cylindrical rod with two open funnels, one smaller and one larger,
which looks similar to the shape of a plunger.
The X-ray machine has lead to many discoveries as well. In 1895, professor,
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen who was already researching cathode rays discovered a screen
becoming fluorescent while the in the path of the rays (History of Radiography). After
this he decided to use photographic film to capture images of different object. One object,
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or person, he used was his wife. With this photograph he discovered you could see
through the skin and see the bones, as well as the image of the wedding ring she was
wearing. After his discovery he deemed the machine, which forever revolutionized the
medical field, as well as a Nobel Prize, the X-ray machine.
Throughout the years medical technology has progressed significantly. X-ray
technology has opened the doors for other technology in the radiography field. Some
technology advancements are the CT, or better yet the computed tomography, the
machine that you see in many TV shows or movies, it is the machine that you see laying
on a table and entering into a circular hole. The CT allows doctors to get images of the
inside of our body using x-rays. Women are also familiar with another piece of
technology, the mammography. These are only a few advancements made in the field of
