Medical equipment
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Medical equipment is designed to aid in the diagnosis, monitoring or treatment of medical conditions. These devices are usually designed with rigorous safety standards.
See also the main articles: implant, artificial limbs, corrective lenses, cochlear implants, dental implants, prosthetics (ocular, facial)
There are several basic types:
- Diagnostic equipment includes medical imaging machines, used to aid in diagnosis. Examples are ultrasound and MRI machines, PET and CT scanners, and x-ray machines.
- Therapeutic equipment includes infusion pumps, medical lasers and LASIK surgical machines.
- Life support equipment is used maintain a patient's bodily function. These include medical ventilators, heart-lung machines, ECMO, and dialysis machines.
- Medical monitors allow medical staff to measure a patient's medical state. Monitors may measure patient vital signs and other parameters including ECG, EEG, blood pressure, and dissolved gases in the blood.
- Medical laboratory equipment automates or help analyze blood, urine and genes.
A Biomedical equipment technician or BMET is a vital component of the healthcare delivery system. Employed primarily by hospitals, BMETs are the people responsible for maintaining a facility's medical equipment.
Inventions
- C. 1280, spectacles
- 1540, artificial limb, by Ambroise Pare
- 1630, obstetric forceps, by Peter Chamberlen
- 1714, mercury thermometer, by Gabriel Fahrenheit
- 1775, bifocal lenses, by Benjamin Franklin
- 1792, ambulance, by Dominique Jean Larrey
- 1796, vaccination, by Edward Jenner
- 1816, stethoscope, by René Laennec
- 1817, dental plate, by Anthony Plantson
- 1853, hypodermic syringe, by Alexander Wood
- 1887, contact lens, by Adolf Fick
- 1895, X-ray, by Wilhelm Röntgen
- 1903, electrocardiograph, by Willem Einthoven
- 1956, endoscope, by Basil Hirschowitz
- 1957, artificial pacemaker, by C. Walton Lillehei and Earl Bakken
- 1973, CT (CAT) scan, by Godfrey Hounsfield and Allan Cormack
- 1979, ultrasound scan, by Ian Donald
- 1982, artificial heart, by Robert Jarvik
- Source
- Running Press Cyclopedia, second edition
See also
Notable medical equipment companies
- Boston Scientific
- Johnson & Johnson
- Medtronic
- Mindray
- Spacelabs Healthcare
- St.Jude Medical
- Philips
- GE Healthcare
- Siemens AGfr:Équipement médical
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
