Doctor Tech.

Medical Technology can be described in three useful ways listed by medicine writer, Lewis
Thomas: Non-technology (non-curative care for patients with advanced diseases whose
natural history cannot be changed), Halfway-technology (also care that is non-curative but
may delay death), and High-technology (curative treatment or effective prevention
techniques).

What are the limits of

technology?
By Makenzie Rothe, February 2017

Society relies on technology for everything. It is used for things like communication,
education, entertainment, and many other things. One thing that has shown to rely on
technology the most are the advances in medicine. David Wood, a teacher who has taught
many levels of physics and science courses, explains on his article, Medical Technology:
Definition and Examples, Medical Technology is simply the use of our knowledge to build
objects to protect living organisms from disease or death. What this means is medical
technology is skills and intelligence that are put into machines and medicines that can help cure
and to research the causes of different diseases and other medical issues. It is something used
to recognize new organisms that are harmful to the immune system and help fight against them.
Technology has enhanced our ability to grow as a society, but how has it affected people on a
medical based level?

A Step Back in Time:

Medical technologies have enhanced greatly over

decades of time. Technologies were made to aid in patient
care. In the beginning, disease was thought to be caused
by inappropriate activity towards nature or other people.
They used things like ointments, for internal sicknesses
and external wounds, and leaves as bandages. Michael
Miranda from Colorado State Univ in the Department of The Greeks used cloth and
Teaching, Learning, and Culture, et al, are the authors of other types of material for
the book, Medical Technology. In their book they clarify that, bandages.
The four humors as described by Hippocrates (460-377 B.C) and Galen (131-201 A.D.) were
an attempt to qualitatively measure a deficiency or excess of bodily fluids (i.e., blood, phlegm,
yellow bile, and black bile) with respect to the changing seasons. In other words, Hippocrates
and Galen, one of the first physicians, were able to study and categorize these illnesses to then
create medicine to help cure people of that sickness. This was one of the first actions in the
history of medical technology.

Medical technology increases drastically in the start of the 19th century. The
stethoscope, anesthesia, and brain waves were some of the things that were made during this
time by scientists and physicians to improve patient care. The number of medical specialties
recognized by the International Medical Congress increased from eight in 1875 to an estimate of
34 in 1915, was written in the book titled, Medical Technology. On December 31, 1841, the X-
ray was invented by German physicist, Wilhelm Conrad Rntgen. According to the New York
Times, they called his invention, alleged discovery of how to photograph the invisible. Some
people couldnt believe in what some of the scientists created, so it was easier to deny it. One
factor that led to the increase of medical technology was the amount of patients and their need
for medical care. As patients increased, the need for doctors did as well. This then lead to an
increase of inventing different objects to help doctors assess their patients. Doctors are always
finding new viruses and medicines that can or cannot restore health to their patients. They are
always experimenting in laboratories to create technologies to assist and make their practice
more efficient for their cases.
History in the Making:

When looking in a hospital today, there are many different machines that one will find;
things like CT scanners, monitors, and pulse oximeters can be found. There are now computers
that can perform complex calculations, record data for intelligence and patient records, and
manage other machines that can sometimes control ones life. Scientists are now in the process
of creating different types of artificial body parts for
people to use so they can continue with living. They have
created artificial heart valves, knees, livers and many
other organs. These organs are the result of increased
technology, knowledge of the materials used, knowledge
in general, design and science. In proportion to the
advance of technology, Medical technology advances in
the past 50 years has exceeded the advances during the
previous 2000 years. (Medical Technology) Since the
creation of technology has increased, the inventions of
different technological devices and medical knowledge
will, no doubt, continue to grow.

An artifi cial heart has saved the

lives of many. It is called a There is always the question of what will
ventricular assist device and is happen next? Healthcare and medical technology
have yet to fulfil the needs of every single patient that
made out of plastic and metal.
has existed. Scientists have been trying to research
It helps pump blood and different perspectives of illnesses and have been
reduces blood clotting. showing interests in holistic healing techniques,
spiritual medicine and mind/body treatments. Peter Reinhart, a director of the Institute for the
Applied Life Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, reports in his article, Identifying an
Alzheimers patient at the [observable] behavioral point, when 70 percent of the brain mass has
already disappeared, really limits the number of therapeutic options you can provide that
patient. If you could identify someone like that seven or eight years earlier, it now opens up a
very different array of intervention strategies. Technology has shown its potential for improving
ones health substantially, but not every virus or bacteria has been discovered and neither the
cure to destroy it. There is still needs to be a focus on the research of diseases and infections
that have yet to be controlled.

The Bad:

Some problems are being faced when using technology for medical uses. One of these
problems is using devices on patients without being tested beforehand. Between 2007 and
2013, more than 1.74 million robotic procedures were performed in the U.S., most commonly in
gynecology and urology, with 144 deaths (1.4 percent), 1,391 patient injuries (13.1 percent) and
more than 8,000 device malfunctions (75.9 percent), claims in the article Adverse Events in
Robotic Surgery; A Retrospective Study of 14 Years of FDA Data, by Alemzadeh, et al. For
technology and patient care to improve, there needs to be an understanding of the impact of
surgical events on patients.

Another incident with the advance of medical technology is the increase in cost. The
provider needs to pay for the device itself, the process of setting it up, maintaining it, and the
training of people to use it. There are also updates and IT management that needs to be
considered. In addition to increase in cost, most of the records are taken and kept electronically.
The problem with this is that everything is kept online or in a database and it is a lot easier for
information to leak out; this could then invade the privacy of the patients. Finally, transferring
information to other clinics can be hard
because they might have a different system,
but to every bad there is a good.

The Good:

Even though there have been some

issues with the use of technology in hospitals,
there have been many benefits as well. The
advance in technology itself has saved many
lives. Medical technology has made diagnosis
and treatment faster, more accurate, and comfortable for patients. John Morrissey, who is a
freelance writer in Chicago, insists, These newfangled contraptions will change how and where
care is delivered and will enable providers to One of the main factors for the advance
stay continuously connected with patients of technology is the comfort of the
wherever they may be. Much of the emerging patient. Having an uncomfortable
technology is aimed at getting inside the body patient can lead to a decline in his or
without actually going inside it. What this her health or the loss of the ability to
means is that they would like to create more want to be cured.
devices that can see through each layer without having to do surgeries that can be costly.
Doctors and researchers are coming up with different problems like diseases and are trying to
find a solution for them. More often than not, if you pick an issue there will more likely be a
device or machine that has been created to solve that issue.

The accessibility to records and data is another thing that has been beneficial since
technology has improved. Since records and data are kept electronically, it is easier for
physicians to gather the information needed instead of having to look through many files on
shelves. It is also simpler to send information to pharmacists and has less room for mistakes
when writing the information. But to every good there is a bad.
Story Time:

Everyone has a different opinion and say on whether or not medical technology is
beneficial or if it causes more damage. A medical technologist has shared her story on the tasks
that the job entails as well as her opinions. The task that a medical technologist does is that
they work in laboratories and test different samples. This person has shared her opinion on her
job. According to her, The best part of my job is that I know the testing that I do will help a
doctor treat a patient. It's a good feeling knowing that you are part of helping someone get
better. The worst part is seeing test results that you know are critical and that sometimes a
doctor can't fix.

Another story that is shared, by Robert Wachter, is about his friend that recently went to
his doctor and talked about his experience with the visit. This friend has been to this doctor for
several years and has liked his doctor, but this time was different because his doctor had
brought in a computer to record all of the information during that visit.
He asks me a question, and as soon as I begin to answer, his head is down in his laptop. Tap-
tap-tap-tap. He looks up at me to ask another question. As soon as I speak, again its tap-tap-
tap-tap.
What did you do? asks Wachter.
I found another doctor.

Some people disagree with the advance and use of technology in the medical field.
Wachter also shared a story about another patient. Even in preventing medical mistakes- a
central rationale for computerization- technology has let us down. At my own hospital, in 2013
we gave a teenager a 39-fold overdose of a common antibiotic. The initial glitch was innocent
enough: A doctor failed to recognize that a screen was set on milligrams per kilogram rather
than just milligrams. But the jaw-dropping part of the error involved alerts that were ignored by
both physician and pharmacist. The error caused a grand mal seizure that sent the boy to the
I.C.U. and nearly killed him. The thing with technology is that people think it is so advanced that
they rely on it too much and dont even bother to check their work. Simple mistakes can lead to
major ones and technology can be either a great advantage or a complete disaster.
 Works Cited:
Alemzadeh, H. Lyer, RK. Kalbarczyk, Z. Adverse Events in Robotic Surgery. Cornell University

Library. July 2015.

Bonsor, Kevin. An artificial heart has saved the lives of many. It is called a ventricular assist device

and is made out of plastic and metal. It helps pump blood and reduces blood clotting. Digital

image. How Stuff Works Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

De Miranda, Michael A. Doggett, Mark A. Evans, Jane T. Medical Technology. 2005. Print.

Geyman, John. Does More Technology Bring Us Better Health Care? The Huffington

Post. 25 July 2016.

Kline, Kenny. What Are the Limits of Technology? Digital image. Center for Digital Health

Hummanities. N.p., 7 Oct. 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

McNeely, Lee. One of the main factors for the advance of technology is the comfort of the patient.

Having an uncomfortable patient can lead to a decline in his or her health or the loss of the

ability to want to be cured. Digital image. Anova Cancer Care. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

Morrissey, John. The Medical Technologies That Are Changing Health

Care. Hospitals & Health Networks. 14 April 2015.

The Greeks used cloth and other types of material for bandages. Digital image. Lib Guides. N.p., 20

Dec. 2016. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

Unknown. Career Story: Medical Technologist At A Hospital. City Town Info.

Unknown. Milestones in Medical Technology. The New York Times. 10 October 2012.

Wachter, Robert M. Why Health Care Tech Is Still So Bad. The New York Times. 21 March

2015.

Wood, David. Medical Technology: Definition & Examples. Study.

February 26, 2017

Dear Professor Packer:

Readers can relate to my topic because everyone has been to a hospital at least
once in their life. They have an idea of what kind of technology is used in a hospital
from the news or by learning about it in school. Another way that they know about
some type of medical technology that is used today is by going to their doctors
offices just to get a checkup. They can also relate to the purpose of my report,
based on medical technology, because technology itself is advancing and improving
worldwide.

My research question is: What is medical technology?

The process that was used to investigate my question was research it and read
articles that came close to my question. After reading it I would then look for the
author and research him or her as well to see how reliable the source was. I created
an outline for my report and would find 4-5 different websites for that topic and use
them where needed.

The findings are presented in my report by using quotes and explaining the quote
afterwards.

This report teaches different perspectives on what medical technology is. It teaches
about the past, present, and what can happen in the future. It also lists the good
and bad as well as some personal stories from people and their opinions on medical
technology. Some rhetorical appeals that are used are pictures, personal stories,
facts, and reliable sources.

I have learned to provide a lot of information, but in an entertaining way so your

reader can stay enthused when reading your article or report. I have also learned
that there are many ways to do this. You can provide pictures, different fonts for
titles, sub titles, graphs, links and many more. I can transfer this information by
keeping in mind that I need to keep the readers attention throughout the paper; if I
am not focused throughout my paper than my readers definitely wont be. Another
thing that I will keep in mind is that the more effort that I put into my assignments,
the more likely people will enjoy reading it or want to take a glance at my paper.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and report.

Sincerely,

Makenzie Rothe