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Medical equipment is machinery designed to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of medical problems. It is usually designed with rigorous safety standards.
See also the main articles: implant, artificial limbs, corrective lenses, cochlear implants, ocular prosthetics, facial prosthetics, somato prosthetics, surgical prosthetics, maxillo-facial prosthetics and dental implants
There are several basic types:
- Diagnostic equipment include medical imaging machines are used to aid diagnosis. These include ultrasound, MRI, CAT-scans, PET, and x-ray machines.
- Therapeutic equipment include infusion pumps (by far the most common), 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. These measure ECGs, EEGs, blood pressure, and dissolved gases in the blood.
- Medical laboratory equipment automate or help analyses of 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 Ambrose Pare
- 1630, obstetric forceps, by Peter Chemberlen
- 1714, mercury thermometer, by Gabriel Fahrenheit
- 1775, bifocal lenses, by Benjamin Franklin
- 1792, ambulance, by Jean Dominique Larrey
- 1796, vaccination, by Edward Jenner
- 1816, stethoscope, by Theophile Laennec
- 1817, dental plate, by Anthony Plantson
- 1827, endoscope, by Pierre Segalas
- 1846, anesthetics, by William Morton
- 1853, hypodermic syringe, by Alexander Wood
- 1863, barbiturate, by Adolf von Bayer
- 1865, antiseptic, by Joseph Lister
- 1885, rabies vaccination, by Louis Pasteur
- 1887, contact lens, by Adolf Frick
- 1895, X-ray, by Wilhelm Rontgen
- 1903, electrocardiograph, by Willem Einthoven
- 1928, antibiotics, by Alexander Fleming
- 1955, contraceptive pill, by Gregor Pincus
- 1957, pacemaker, by Clarence W. Lillehie and Earl Bakk
- 1967, heart transplant, by Christiaan Barnard
- 1973, 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
Medical equipment companies
Medical Equipment Inspection Procedures for BMET's
See also: medical test
"Medical equipment"