Medical Technology
There are many devices used in medicine that the layman does not know what they are used for, but they have great power to save and improve the lives of patients. The basic technological toy that doctors have is a stethoscope, with which they listen to the heart and lungs while lying on their backs. Another commonly known instrument is the blood pressure cuff. However, there are many more devices and technologies used in medicine.
What kind of technology do we often encounter? We often encounter x-ray machines (x-rays) that allow doctors to look at our bones or at our lungs when there is inflammation in the lungs.
Another technological convenience is ultrasound. Ultrasound can be seen not only when examining a fetus in a pregnancy clinic, but also, for example, when a cardiologist examines the heart or an internist examines the abdominal organs with ultrasound. Ultrasound is also used by urologists to examine the urinary tract and kidneys.
Defibrillator. A device used by physicians to restore life. It delivers an electric shock and attempts to regulate the heart\’s function.
Doctors also use other imaging modalities and techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging and CT scans. in an MRI, you lie on your back on a designated couch, and a nurse holds your head and the area being examined in place with a special mask and pads over your ears to muffle the uncomfortably loud noise the machine makes during the scan. The CT scan is similar, but the head is not immobilized; the machine scans the head or abdominal organs within a few minutes.
It can save lives in situations that medicine could not have handled decades ago.