OCON, France Kenneth C.

August 18, 2014

BSEd – Physical Science 4E Instructress: Dr. Emmylou Borja

Chapter VII

THE DEVELOPMENT, CONCEPT AND USE OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AS SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES
1. Acupuncture

This is an ancient therapeutic technique develop 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.

0 Procedure

Needles with length of 0.5 to 5 inches (12mm to 127mm) are placed in specific parts of the body to
relieve a number of conditions ranging from back pain to toothache and headache. Alternative method of
acupuncture includes the use of pressure or heat in place of needles. 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.

2. Air Beds

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 patient’s 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 alleviate the risk of pressure sore.

0 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 mattress in case of an emergency
where the patient needs to be resuscitated.

3. Ambulatory

0 History

Norman J. Holtzer, D.Sc. And associates developed a machine in the mid 1950’s that recorded
electrocardiograph (ECG) signals from leads on the chest and recorded them unto magnetic tape for later
 analysis. Now the Holtzer recorder is quite common and many people with suspected heart are instructed to
“wear” one for 24 hours.

0 Procedure

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.

4. Anesthetic

0 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.

0 Procedure

Anesthetic drugs act on the membranes of nerve cells and disrupt the transmission of electrical impulses
to the central nervous system. This causes the sensation of numbness. Local anesthetic blocks electrical nerve
transmission in the site where it is administered usually by injection. Regional anesthesia, the anesthetic is
introduced to large nerves or to an area of the spinal cord that would supply a large area of the body. General
anesthetic is an initial injection that quickly dissolves into the nerve cells of the central nervous system and
causing unconsciousness.

5. 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. An apnea alarm is “loaned” to a parent of a child by the clinician that may suspect breathing difficulties.

6. Autoclave

An autoclave is a pressure steam cleaner used to sterilize surgical equipment. The surgical instruments
are usually wrapped in a porous material and sealed with indicating tape before being placed in the oven.

7. 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.

8. Blood Pressure

0 History
 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
1800s an Italian 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 where the pressure in
the cuff occludes the brachial artery and stops blood from passing through.

0 Procedure

Blood pressure is usually measured by the physician during a diagnosis. For ausculatory measurement, 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 the 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 deflated/the sounds disappear and on rappearing the clinician listens to the softening of the sounds and
just as they disappear, the diastolic is recorded.

9. Breast Pump

Breast milk can be drawn from the mother for bottle feeding. A breast pump causes a low, adjustable
suction and with the aid of a suction cup, the milk is drawn off and is placed into a container. The milk can then
be used to feed the baby with the use of a bottle.

10. Cautery

A cautery machine used in a clinic is often an adjustable direct current (DC) output power supply with
leads attached to a hand piece that holds a thin wire loop.

11. Computerized-Axial Tomography (CT or CAT Scan)

A Computerized Axial Tomography machine creates images of the internal structures of the body and
used for diagnosis. The procedure was developed by the British Scientist Godfrey Hounsfield who constructed
the first scanner in the early 1970s. Tomography is a sectional X-ray. As the radiation is of lower power the
patient doesn’t receive large doses of X-rays.

12. CO2 Monitoring

CO2 monitoring is used during anesthesia. Many potentially dangerous situations can be first detected
using CO2 monitoring.

13. Cryosurgery

A Cyosurgery device uses a gas, typically CO2 that is fed from a pressure reducing regulator to a hand
held pistol grip with a trigger, attached to the hand piece in a metal tip.

14. Defibrillator
 A defibrillator is used when the heart goes into fibrillation. This is when normal electrical activity of the
heart is in a confused state and the heart is out of sync with itself. In fibrillation the heart is pumping
ineffectively and is in more of a spasm.

15. Dental

Dental surgeries have different types of equipment:

0 Drill – a dentist uses works from compressed air or an electric motor. The drill has a mandrel that takes different
types of tools.

0 Suction – the suction machine is used to remove debris from the mouth.

0 Compressed Air – is used to look for cavities and sometimes to remove debris.

0 Light Source – the light source is used to get a clear view of the mouth.

0 Dental Chair – the dental chair has electric motors to enable the dentist to get the patient into the ideal
position.

16. Dialysis

Small unwanted molecules can be removed from the patients’ blood if the kidneys have failed, by the
use of a hemodialysis machine. 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.

17. 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. There are usually three modes to a diathermy,
each with individual power controls: “Cut” “Coag” and “Bipolar” and there is a color coding; yellow, blue and
white/black respectively for the control pedals.

18. Doppler

0 History

Johann Christian Doppler (1805-1853) first put forward the principle of the phenomenon we now know
today as the Doppler Effect. The phenomenon affects all waves when the source and the receiver are moving
relative to each other. The first measurement of blood flow in the heart was by Satomura in 1956.

0 Procedure

Bats use ultrasound to visualize their environment similar to the way ECG machines work to give images
of the heart. The sound waves are pushed into the Piezo crystals that project the sound. In between the pulses,
the Piezo crystals are used to listen for an echo. An ultrasound penetrates tissue, the sound is absorbed or
reflected. The strength of the echo depends on the density of the tissue. The results are displayed on a monitor
where the intensity of the echo is shown in grey scales or color.

19. Electrocardiograph (ECG)

0 History
 Einthoven gave an alphabetical lettering to the ECG (electrocardiograph) wave form because he did not
know the origins and did not wish to suggest interpretation by his labeling.

0 Procedure

Muscles cells are surrounded by a semi permeable membrane which allows sodium ions to pass
through. When the cell is at rest, there is a larger concentration of sodium ions out of the cell than are in it. You
could measure about -90 mV across the membrane. Depolarization is the act of going from -90 mV to +40 mV.
During depolarization, the muscle cell contracts. Repolarization is where the membrane transforms sodium ions
back out of the cell. During repolarization, the muscle cells relax.

20. Electroencephalograph (EEG)

First used by Berger (1924) an Electroencephalograph (EEG) 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.

The EEG machine may have up to sixteen channels that measure brain activity occurring as the result of
“feeble currents”. The EEG signals are distinguished by their frequency and by the region of the head in which
they arise.