Topic 4 - Modern Medicine

• One of the first technological developments that had a major impact on medicine was the X-ray machine. This began to appear in hospitals in the late 1890s.
• Wilhelm Roentgen, a German physicist, had discovered that rays of light in a tube lit up a far screen and could pass through flesh. This works even when ordinary light was blocked from escaping.
• As they were obviously not light rays. He temporarily named them X-rays using the mathematical designation x, which means something unknown.
• The first x-ray picture was of his wife's hand and when she saw it, she exclaimed 'I have seen my death!'
• During the First World War, X-ray machines were used to locate objects lodged within the body, which in the past, could only be found through surgery.
• X-ray machines enabled surgeons to be more precise and prevent the patient from developing unnecessary infections or suffering blood loss.
• Pioneering scientists such as Marie Curie were crucial in promoting X-ray machines by working hard to install them in frontline ambulances.
• By the 1940s, portable X-rays had been designed.
• Technology and medicine continued to develop.
• Ultrasound is a common scanning method used by medical practitioners to examine the body. It works by using high frequency sound waves and monitoring their echoes to create an image.
• Its potential was first realised by researcher Ian Donald, who experimented with ultrasounds to view internal organs and tumours in the 1950s.
• From this point, ultrasound scanners began to be incorporated into hospitals. They were safer than X-rays because they did not expose person to radiation.
• Today, there are several types of ultrasound. Most common are external ultrasounds, where the probe is moved over the skin. These are used during pregnancies to track the health of the foetus.
• Internal ultrasounds are used when a very clear and magnified image of an organ is required.
• An endoscopic ultrasound uses an endoscope inserted into the body. This is used to explore stomachs.
• In the 1970s, computerised tomography scans, better known as CT scans, combined multiple X-rays to give a detailed image of internal organs. They are most often used to detect tumours.
• By the 1980s, magnetic resonance imagery, or MRIs, started using radio waves and strong magnets to examine the brain and spinal cord.
• They were capable of identifying tumours, strokes, inflammation, infection and other abnormalities in organs and soft tissues of the body.
• The first whole body MRI scanner, called Indomitable, was built by Raymond Damadian in 1977.
• Exploring the inside of a person's body is also possible by using fibre optics and endoscopes.
• This has allowed surgeons to undertake keyhole surgery, which does not create a large wound and reduces recovery time as well as the chance of blood loss and infection.
• The development of more efficient microscopes have also made intricate and complex operations possible.
• Microscopically, small nerves and blood vessels can now be joined and severed limbs can now be reattached.
• Penicillin was first discovered by Joseph Lister in 1871. He discovered that the mould growing on fruit and cheese could weaken germs. 2 years later, in 1873, he even used it to treat a nurse.
• However, he failed to recognise its full potential and nothing was done with his observations.
• The next person to discover penicillin was Alexander Fleming.
• Fleming went to France during the First World War of 1914-1918 to treat wounded soldiers and saw firsthand that there was no way to effectively treat infections. He returned to London after the war to continue his studies.
• In 1928, after a holiday, Fleming returned to examine the dishes of staphylococci bacteria he had been studying. He noticed that some of the dishes had grown mould and where the mould could be found, the staphylococci bacteria was either entirely gone or vastly reduced.
• Fleming named the mould penicillin, from its Latin name penicillium.
• Fleming's observations led to a series of experiments. For example, he discovered that if the mould was properly diluted, it killed the bacteria without harming other cells.
• It was useful in killing the bacteria that caused anthrax, meningitis and diphtheria.
• In 1929, he wrote his discoveries down into a medical journal. However, his article was ignored by the medical world.
• Fleming had failed to test his theories on animals or humans and there was no evidence of penicillin's usefulness.
• Howard Florey was the professor of pathology at Oxford University. In 1938, he collaborated with Ernst Chain to research the germ killing properties of penicillin.
• They sought a grant from the British government but were only awarded £25. They then turned to the American government, who funded 5 years of research.
• By 1940, Chain and Florey had produced penicillin in a form they could test on mice which had been injected with an infection called streptococci.
• In 1941, they had produced enough to test on a policeman, Albert Alexander, who had contracted septicaemia which is a type of blood poisoning.
• The trial was a success and began to attack the infection. However, they ran out of penicillin and the patient died.
• Though Chain and Florey had evidence of penicillin's potential, they were still unable to secure a British manufacturer to produce it. Funding was simply too tight during the Second World War.
• In 1942, the American government agreed to assist with its manufacture. It realised the drug's potential to save a lot of soldiers' lives during the war and offered interest free loans for companies seeking to produce it.