The development,

oncept and use of

medical
equipment and
technology
advances
• Experimental physics
(1550-1800)
• Several
to
• classical physics
experiments,
(1800-1900) studies and
to discoveries made
• modern physics by brilliant men
(1900- to date)
and women that
evolved and
generated very
important results
and considerable
Before 19th Century, medical technology was
a small specialized world.
Doctors in 1800s were solely dependent on
their own thinking and that any instrument
they possessed would have been of their own
design and fabricated by local blacksmith.
20th Century experienced rapid and
revolutionary changes in world of technology.
There was the introduction of:
-Anesthesia -Bacteriology
-Biochemistry -Radiology
ACUPUNCTURE
This is an ancient therapeutic technique
developed by the Chinese. They believed that
a life force is essential for good health and that
life energy flows through the body along
pathways called meridians. Disrupted body
functions or disease is the result of interrupted
flow. The needle restores the flow to resolve
health wellness.
PROCEDURE:
Needles with length of 0.5 to 5 inches (12
mm to 127mm) are placed in specific parts
of the body to relieve a number of
Western medicine has begun to appreciate the
benefits derived from acupuncture as an
alternative treatment, It is believed that a form
of anesthesia maybe induced by the
stimulation of sensory nerves, which would
then induce the pituitary gland and the
hypothalamus to release endorphins (the
body's natural pain killers). It could work well
for the patient especially if accompanied with a
strong sense of belief
AIR BED
The occurrence of sores have always been a
problem for patients who are confined to bed
for long periods of time. At the point on the
patients' body that makes contact with the
mattress, a sore can develop, ulcerate or
become infected. It is inevitable that this would
make the condition of the patient worse. and
slow down the recovery from first
hospitalization, as there is a secondary
treatment needed. The patient must be
regularly moved to a different position to
PROCEDURE
The idea of an Air bed is to reduce the need for
turning as this is done to some degree
automatically. The mattress is constructed of cells
that are alternately inflated. This is done by a
compressor with two outputs that alternate
between each other. The compressor can
sense a leak in the mattress
and sound an alarm. There is a
quick release Cardio-Pulmonary
Resuscitation (CPR) plug to deflate
the mattres in case of an
emergency where the patient
needs to be resuscitated.
AMBULATORY
History: Norman
J.Holtzer, D.Sc. and
associates developed a
machine in the mid
1950s that recorded
electrocardiograph (ECG)
signals from leads on the
chest and recorded them
onto magnetic tape for
later analysis. Now the
Holtzer recorder is quite
common and many people
The ambulatory ECG recorder is the size of
a personal CD player and is worn as a belt
or strapped to the patient: It has electrodes
that are attached to the chest and these pick
up the ECG signal. This is then recorded onto
the cassette tape which runs slow enough for
24 hours recording. The tape is then rapidly
analyzed by a machine that stops when it
detects any abnormalities in the recording.
The technician who controls the playback
machine makes notes to report to the
physician. Also, there is an ambulatory blood
pressure machine available that will make
ANESTHETIC
History: In the mid-19th Century,
anesthetics, ether, chloroform and nitrous
oxide were first used in Europe and
America as pain relief during operations. It
was found that these substances dull bodily
sensations especially pain. As the anesthetic
has become more refined the recovery from
an operation is better.
PROCEDURE
Anesthetic drugs act on the membranes of
nerve cells and disrupt the transmission of
electrical impulses to the central nervous
 Local anesthetic blocks electrical nerve
transmission in the site where it is
administered usually by injection
Regional anesthesia. The anesthetic is
introduce to large nerves or to an area of
the spinal cord that would supply a large
area of nerves or to an a the body.
General anesthetic is an initial injection
that quickly dissolves nerve cells of the
central nervous system and causing
unconsciousness.
The Anesthetic trolley would be found in an
operating theater. It uses different gases and
Anesthetic
APNEA ALARMS
Often for neonate and pediatric use, an
apnea monitor detects breathing with a
strain gauge affixed to the chest to detect
the expansion or with electrodes that
measures the change in impedance as the
chest moves.
The device sounds an alarm if no breath is
detected after a pre- set time. The alarm which
is usually quite loud may actually startle the
infant into breathing again. The audible alarm
feature can often be switched off just to give a
visual indication with flashing indicators.
Apnea alarm
AUTOCLAVE
An autoclave is a pressure steam cleaner
used to sterilize surgical equipment. The
surgical instruments are usually wrapped in a
us material and sealed with indicating tape
before being placed in the oven.
The air inside the oven is evacuated before the
high pressure steam is admitted. Because the
steam is under pressure it can get to a very
high temperature that would be pre-set on the
front panel.
The steam contacts all parts of the instruments
before the oven is evacuated with steam. This
The indicating tape that will wrapping,
changes color to indicate that the process
is complete and the instruments are sterilized
for use.
BABY WARMER
Babies need to be kept warm because they
cannot control their body temperature as
adults can. This device is often an overhead
heater placed over the cot that contains as
electrical heating element that is pre-set or
sometimes with a thermistor on the patient's
skin to control the thermostat.
A warm water filled mattress is also used, that
can be placed in a cot that the baby is placed
on.
Baby warmer
BLOOD PRESSURE
In 1730 it is recorded that Reverend Steven Hales
applied a cannula to an artery in the neck of a horse.
He measured the height of the blood in a glass tube
to be over 8 ft (2.5 meters) above the heart.
In the late 1800’s an Italiann Riva-Rocci used a
sphygmomanometer to find the systolic pressure.
A sphygmomanometer is basically a pressure
gauge in the form of a column of mercury or an
analog gauge and is used to measure blood
pressure along with the use of a stethoscope.
The idea of listening to the brachial artery to hear
the pulsatile sounds was noted by a Russian
surgeon named Nicholai Korotkoff. The Korotkoff
sounds give indications to the systolic-the point
This is also an indication of the greatest pressure that occurs in the artery
during systole, at the height of the contraction of the heart. And the diastolic-
the lowest pressure in the cardiac cycle. It occurs during the last of the
diastole, which extends from the end of one contraction of the heart to the
beginning of the next. The diastolic is also considered a measure of the
resistance of the vascular system and the elastic contraction of the vessels.
PROCEDURE
Blood pressure is usually measured by the physician during a diagnosis. For
ausculatory. A bandage cuff is wrapped around the arm which contains an
inflation bag and the stethoscope is placed over the brachial artery. The cuff
is inflated 30mmHg above the disappearance of the pulse which is seen as
loss of small pulses on the gauge.
The cuff is slowly deflated and on hearing the Korotkoff sounds the
systolic is recorded. As the cuff is further deflatted the sounds disappear and
on rappearing the clinician listens to the softening of the sounds and just as
they disappear, the diastolic is recorded.
Blood pressure
BREAST PUMP
Breast pump can be drown from the mother for
bottle feeding breast pump causes low adjustable suction
cup the milk is drawn off and is placed into a container

CAUTERY
A Cautery machine used in clinic is often an
adjustable direct current (DC) output power supply with
leads attached to a hand pieces that holds a thin wire loop.
COMPUTERIZED AXIAL TOMOGRAPHY (CT or CAT SCAN)
A computerized axial tomography machine ceares
images of internal structures of the body and used for
diagnosis. The procedure was developed by british scientist
Godfrey Hounsfield who constructed the first scanner in the
early 1970s.

CO2 MONITORING
CO2 monitoring is used during anesthesia. Many
potentially dangerous situations can be first detected
using CO2 monitoring.
DEFIBRILLATOR
A defibrillator is used when heart goes into fibrillation.
Ths is when normal electrical activity of the heart is a confused
state and the heart is out of sync with itself.

CRYOSURGERY
A Cryosurgery device uses a gas, typically CO2 that fed
from a pressure reducing regulator to a hand held pistol grip with
a trigger attached to the hand piece in a metal tip.
DENTAL
Dental surgeries have different types of equipment

DRILL-the drill a dentist uses works from compressed air or an

electric motor. The drill has a mandrel that takes defferent types
of tools.
SUCTION- the suction machine is used to remove debris from the
mouth.
COMPRESSED AIR- compressed air is used to look for the cavities
and sometimes to remove debris.
LIGHT SOURCE- The light source is used to get a clear view of the
mouth
DENTAL CHAIR- The dental chair has electric motors to enable
the dentist to get the patient into the ideal position.
DIALYSIS
is the process whereby crystalloid and colloid
substances are separated from a solution by interposing
a semi permeable membrane between the solution and
pure water
HEMODIALYSIS- patients blood is used the process.
PERITONEAL DIALYSIS- when the dialysis fluid is passed
into the abdominal cavity and the peritoneum is used to
the semi permeable membrane.
DIATHERMY
These machines are high frequency
generators that are used by surgeons during
operations, to cut and coagulate tissue. They
often incorporate suction and light source.
DOPPLER
History: Johann Christian Doppler (1805-1853)
first put forward the principle of the
phenomenon we know today as the Doppler
Effect. The phenomenon affects all waves when
the source and the receiver are moving relative
to each other.
ELECTROCARDIOGRAPH (ECG)
History : Eithoven gave an alphabetical lettering
to the ECG wave form because he did not know
the origins and did not wish to suggest
interpretation by his labelling.
ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPH (EEG)
History: First used by Berger (1924) an
Electroencephalograph is a machine that detects
and records electrical activity in the brain. It
does this by measuring potential differences
(voltages) between electrodes placed on the
scalp.
• Infusion
Infusion devices are mechanical pumps used to administer liquid drugs om
vitro from a fluif filled via a giving set.
• Insufflation
A canula is passrf thrpugh the skin into the peritoneum and is connected to the
insufflator. The inflation is called a "pneumoperitoneum", carbpn dipxide being
the most common gas used.
• Iron lung
The iron lung was used in the treatment of respiratory disease, paralysis and
inanesthesia but most excesdively during thr polipmyelitis epidemics of the
1930s and 1950s.
The iron lung is a device that provides artificial respiration by mechanical
means. Ngativr pressure units are a sealed vessel containing the patients body
with the head protuding witj a seal arnd next.
• Laparoscopy
Laparoscpes are long narrow tubes that cpntain lenses and mirrors
that a surgeon uses to look inside the body. This method is minimally
invasive because only a small incision is made thrpugh which a
laparoscope is passed. Used with an insufflator and a light source, the
laparoscope is passed.
• Laser
A laser instrument is an instrument that amplifies light waves by
simulation to produce a powerful coherent beam of monochromatic
light. This intense be of light can be used to cut or coagulate tissues.
Laser surgery is less invasive than normal surgery, it destroys diseased
tissue gently and allows quicker more natural healing.
• Light Source
It is essential forbthe clinician or surgeon to have a clear vies and see
clearly at what they are working. The fiber light source is used during
surgery to give a surgeon a clear view through an endoscope or
laparoscope.
• Lung function
The clinician needs to have an accurate measure of thr patients lung to
aid the observation or diagnosis of pulmonary problems. Accurate
measures of lung capacity and forced flow are taken and compared to
predict values.
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging or Scanning (MRI)
is relatively a new technique used tp investigate the bpdy for
diagnostic purposes and has the advantagr that it does not use ionizing
radiation (x ray). It comprises a large circular magnet that determines
the magnetic bearinh of a number of atomic nuclei in the body. As the
magnet is switched on, some atoms in the body are eccited by radio
waves.
• Maternity Equipment
The equipment is use in the maternity department is primarily aied at
the baby, althpugh there are breast pumps, thermometers, oxygen
therapy and patients weighing scale used on the mother.
• Microsurgery
Intricate surgery can be perfed using microscopes and precisuon surgical
instruments during brain, eye and ear surgery, and severed limbs. This has
only become possible in recent years.
• Endoscopy
The technique enables the surgeon to see inside thebody using special optical
lenses and fibers. The endoscope is inserted through natural orifices or small
incisions and light is guided down along with specially designed surgical
instruments. Endoscopes now incorporate cametas and pictures can now be
displayed on a video screen.
• Fetal Heart
The fetal heart can be monotored using ultrasound probes attached to the
mpthets abdomen while in labor.

Pulsations of the fetal heart are heard through a loud speaker and the fetal
heart is displayed digitally. Also, the hery rate is printed on a graph over time
to show any variations.

Additionally, these devices incorcorporate transducers that measure the

contradiction with the use of a strain gauge also attached to the abdomen.
• Hearing aids
These are special equipment available to assist those who are deaf or
hard of hearing. You may realize that many everyday items utilizevan
alarm or sound to warn you or catch your attention. Sound activated
systems are devices attached to telephones and doorbells and
flashlights or use vibrating pagers to alert you if you are asleep and
baby alarms that operate vibrating pads and that flash lights.
• Heart lung
The heart lung machine replaces the functions of the heart and lungs
during surgery n these organs. The machine was first used by gibbon in
1953. The machine circulates the patients blood through a special
peristaltc pump, designed not to damage cells in the blood. The blood
is passed over a permeable membrane where gas exchange takes
place.
• Humidifiers
Is used when the patient is anesthecized or during ventilation to enrich
the gases with water vapor beacuse the gases used are too dry.
• Hyperbaric
The definition of hyperbaric is at "higher than normal
pressure" (esp. Pxygen). Originally pressurized vessels
were developed to combat decompression sickness
suffered by deep sea divers. If a diver surfaces top quickly,
molecules of nitrogen form into bubbles in the blood and
then slowly reducing the pressure in a contolled way to
stop the bubbles forming.
• Incubators
Premature babies and under weight babies are placed
inside heated incubators because they cannot control
their body temperature. The incubator has an electrical
heating element that is controlled by thermostats. There
is a fan that circulates the heat to get an even
distribution. The temperature is usually set to about 35°C
and temperature stabilized before the baby is put in
• Nebulizers
Used in the treatment of certain respiratory
ailments, a nebulizer is a machine thst converts
the liquid medication into a fine mist that the
patient can inhale.
• Optical
One of the first requiremnets of a
physician is to be able to see the cause of the
patients problem. Originally; doctors used
natural light and a head worn reflector.
• Video Camera Systems
The advent of smaller video cameras has
enabled this branch of optical medicine to be at
the forefront of surgical techniques. Video
systems are used in theaters with laparoscopes
or endoscopes, enabling the surgeon to view on
video monitor internal problems or diseases.
• Pain Relief
Early civilizations perceived concepts such as
the magical influence of the spirits of the dead,
a punishment for sins committed as some
causes of pain.
• Physiotherapy
physiotherapy equipment is many and
varied. Heat is a common treatment often used
in the form of heat wax and more physical
treatments include traction.
• Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
PET is used to monitor biochemical and
physiological changes within the body using a
“labelled” radioactive isotope that has a short
half life.
• Pulse Oximeter
Oxygen is carried by the blood tissue where it is
required. Oxygen is carried mainly by a protein
called hemoglobin.
The device also measure the pulse rate which is
displayed along with the oxygen saturation and
the wave from the signal.
• Radiology
Radiology is the application of radiation for
diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.
X-ray is used to detect broken bones and chest
infections. But techniques have been developed
where a non toxic radio opaque substance are
administered to show the internal organs do not
show up on normal x-rays.
• Radiotheraphy
Radiotheraphy is the use of ionizing
electromagnetic radiation(x-ray and gamma ray)
for the treatment of disease such as cancer.
Radiotheraphy is often used in conjunction
with surgery and cytotoxic drugs.
• Resuscitation Equipment
In any emergency, resuscitation equipment
should be close at hand. Equipment may include
oxygen, suction, portable ventilator or a
defibrillator.
• Stress Testing
This is usually done by having the patient
walk on a gradient adjustable treadmill, which
will be controlled by a computer. The patient will
be connected to an ECG recorder.