TECHNOLOGY,INVENTIONS

AND DISCOVERIES IN
MEDICINE.
Worked by: Ridjana Mera 8b
Aceppted by: Marjana Tusha
Medical Inventions That Changed the World

◦ Inventions like functional magnetic resonance imaging, the artificial heart,

and disposable catheter changed medicine forever. Medical science is one of
the most scientifically progressive fields. Over the years, breakthroughs in
medical science have either created an alternative to dangerous or
ineffective procedures or have found new solutions to historic challenges.
Technology has played a significant role in many of these medical
changes. Today we will look back on the inventions that revolutionized
medical science. 
1. Medical thermometer
◦ Thermometers are so ubiquitous today, yet we are not exactly sure who
invented the device. Gabriel Fahrenheit first invented the mercury
thermometer in 1714, which is still in usage today. However, the first device
used to measure temperature appeared in the 1500s and was created by
Galileo.
◦ The device was based on the simple principle that a liquid’s density changes
with respect to its temperature. Nevertheless, mercury thermometers are
being phased out in favor of the digital thermometer due to the poisonous
nature of mercury.  
2. Stethoscope
◦ Before the stethoscope was invented, doctors would listen to their patient's
heartbeats by putting their ear on to their chests, a quite crude and
inefficient method. For instance, if there was considerable insulation
between the actual heart and exterior of his chest in the form of fat, this
method failed.
◦ French physician René Laënnec faced a similar situation when he couldn't
accurately judge one of his patients' heart rates on account that the patient
had too much fat on him. He invented the 'stethoscope,' creating a trumpet-
shaped wooden tube that amplified sounds coming from lungs and heart.
That principle of sound amplification has yet to change.
3. X-Ray imaging

◦ It’s hard to imagine the correct diagnosis and treatment of injuries as common as
fractures without X-ray imaging technology. X-rays were accidentally discovered when
a German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was studying electric currents passing
through a gas of extremely low pressure.
◦ He observed that in a darkened room, the cathode ray tube covered with barium
platinocyanide caused a fluorescent effect. Since the cathode rays are invisible, he
didn’t know what the rays were and named it X-radiation for its unknown nature. He
won the first-ever Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 for his discovery.
◦ The initial reception to the discovery, however, was met with hostility and mockery with
a New York Times journalist referring to it as “
an alleged discovery of a method to photograph the invisible”.
4. Antibiotics
◦ People most commonly associate the advent of antibiotics with Alexander
Fleming’s discovery of penicillin. In actuality, 
the age of antibiotics began in 1907 with the creation of Salvarsan by Alfred
Bertheim and Paul Ehrlich. Today this Salvarsan is known as
Arsphenamine. It was the first drug to effectively counter Syphilis, marking
the beginning of anti-bacterial treatment. Alexander Fleming’s discovery of 
anti-bacterial property of Penicillium Notatum in 1928 was when antibiotics
started gaining mass attention. Today, antibiotics have revolutionized
medicine, and in combination with vaccines have helped with eradicating
diseases like tuberculosis
5. The Artificial Heart

◦ The heart is the most important organ in our body, keeping us alive and
transporting blood to various parts of our body. One of the leading causes of
death is heart disease.  Aside from standard medication and medical
treatments, transplants are a great option to combat these statistics.
◦ Yet, the number of patients who need a heart transplant far exceeds the
supply. Though the ideas of the artificial heart can be traced all the way
back to Jean Cesar LeGallois in 1812, with multiple.  variations over time,
Dr. Robert Jarvik is the first person to create a permanent artificial heart, in
1982. The artificial heart has evolved over the decades saving countless
lives. 
PHOTOS