Introduction to Engineering and Technology Concepts

Unit Five

Chapter Two –

Medical Technologies

Instructions for Success:

• Each chapter of every unit will begin with a “Mindjog.” This is a warm up question that you should answer in your workbook in the proper chapter.

• Please take notes as you move through the presentations in the notebook that has been provided.

• Sections will come up in each presentation with an assignment notice. Turn to the section detailed on the slide in your workbook and complete the assignment before proceeding.

• Good luck!

Objective

• Students will define wellness and the technologies used by the medical industry to diagnose, treat, and prevent illness.

Mindjog!

• On your worksheet, please respond to the following question: 

• “What should humans do in order to remain healthy?”

Wellness/Illness

• When discussing health, there are two perspectives:

• Wellness – a state of physical well being.• Illness – a state of poor health.• Both science and technology play a role in

wellness and illness. • Wellness contains four major factors: nutrition

and diet, environment, stress management, and physical fitness(Wright, 2004).

Medicine

• Medicine can be described as the diagnosing, treating, and prevention of diseases (Wright, 2004).

• Disease is any change that interferes with the appearance, structure, or function of the body (Wright, 2004).

• There are many professionals that treat disease and injury: physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, medical technologists, dentists, dental hygienists, and pharmacists (Wright, 2004).

Goals

• The aforementioned health care professionals respond to health care in three ways:

• Diagnosis – performed by conducting interviews, physical examinations, and medical tests.

• Treatment – involves applying medical procedures to cure disease.

• Prevention – actions taken to keep people from contracting a disease (Wright, 2004).

Technology in Medicine

• In the past, physicians depended on people to describe their symptoms. Today, many different types of diagnostic devices exist. For our discussion, we will examine three:

• Routine Diagnostic Equipment• Noninvasive Diagnostic Equipment• Invasive Diagnostic Equipment (Wright, 2004).

Routine

• Routine diagnostic equipment is used to gather general information about the patient.

• The equipment can include technologies like scales, thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes (Wright, 2004).

Noninvasive

• Noninvasive diagnostic equipment gathers information about the patient without entering the body. Some examples include:

• Diagnostic Radiology – uses electromagnetic radiation and ultrasonics to diagnose disease and injuries (Wright, 2004).

Radiology and Diagnostics

• We’re going to go into detail regarding the types of noninvasive, diagnostic tools:

• X-Ray – a camera that uses x-rays instead of visible light to expose film.

• Computerized Tomography (CT Scan) – the scanner produces images of any part of the body without using dyes by rotating around the patient with an X-ray beam. Crystals opposite the beam pick up and record the absorption rates of the bone and tissue

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) – produces computer-developed cross sectional images of any part of the body very quickly. This procedure uses magnetic rays instead of X rays.

• Ultrasound – uses high frequency sound waves and their echoes to develop an image of the body.

• Electrocardiograph (EKG) – produces a visual record of the heart’s

electrical activity (Wright, 2004).

Invasive

• Invasive diagnostic equipment is used when drawing and testing a blood sample or taking tissue samples (biopsy) for laboratory examination (Wright, 2004).

Treatment Technologies

• Treatment of illnesses can also require drugs, specialized equipment, or both.

• A drug is a substance used to prevent, diagnose, or treat a disease. It can be used to prolong the life of patients with incurable conditions.

• Other areas of technology include developing life support equipment, artificial body parts, medical computer systems, blood chemistry sensors, therapeutic instruments, and medical imaging and treatment systems (Wright, 2004).

Treatments (continued)

• The last slide discussed areas where medical engineers are improving various technologies for treatment. This slide will detail three major treatments:

• Radiation Therapy – therapeutic radiology is used to treat cancer cells using high energy radiation.

• Intervention Radiology – uses images produced by radiology for non-surgical treatment of ailments.

• Surgery – common way to treat a disease, remove organs, repair bones, and stop bleeding.

• Prosthesis – artificial body parts such as the heart or a limb.• Emergency medicine – deals with unexpected illness and

injury (Wright, 2004).

Assignment #1

• Please turn to the section in your workbook entitled, “Unit Five, Chapter Two – Medical Technologies.”

• Complete the extension questions under the “Assignment #1” header before moving onto the next section of slides.

BEFORE MOVING ON:

• Did you complete the “Assignment #1” Section under the “Unit Five, Chapter Two – Medical Technologies” section of your workbook?

• If you have, please proceed to the next slide.

Chapter Two Completed!

• Please close this presentation and launch the file entitled, “Chapter 3 – Optical and Fluid Technologies.”

References

• Wright, R. (2004) “Technology” The Goodheart-Willcox Company, Inc.