Medical technology is the application of science and technology to
help improve the management of health conditions. Two such medical
technology inventions that helped healthcare greatly were the gamma
knife and x-rays.
The gamma knife is a good example of
medical technology. It was invented by Swedish neurosurgeon Lars
Leksell in 1976. It can be used to treat brain tumors with radiation
therapy. Patients that need this radiation therapy wear a specialized
helmet fixed to their skull so the gamma knife rays can send the
radiation to the brain tumor. It has helped thousands of patients with
both benign and malignant brain tumors. It was helpful to the medical
field because this type of medical technology is less invasive than
other types of surgeries performed on brain tumors.
Another
type of technology you are probably more familiar with is x-rays.
X-rays are a type of electromagnetic radiation. Its wavelengths are in
the range of 10 to 0.01 nanometers and it corresponds to frequencies in
the range of 30 to 30,000 PHz. X-rays can be used to see the skeletal
system, but it can also be used to detect some diseases in soft
tissue. For example, a chest x-ray can show diseases of the lung such
as pneumonia, lung cancer, and pulmonary edema. Stomach x-rays can be
used to see a blockage of the intestine, but it is debatable as to
whether x-ray medical technology can actually be used to see things
such as gallstones and kidney stones.
Medical technologists use
medical technology to analyze body fluids such as blood, urine, sputum,
stool, cerebrospinal fluid, peritoneal fluid, and synvial fluid. They
often work in clinics, laboratories, and reference labs. If the
medical technology field seems like something you would like to pursue,
you will need to complete a four-year degree program, including a
clinical rotation.