Technology and the Human Body

There have been many types of inventions, even Canadian ones that have helped broaden our understanding of the human body and that have been used to treat patients. At some point in the past, people had never heard of ultrasounds or let alone thought that it would be possible to see a fetus inside a woman's uterus. With the invention of the Ultra sound, that became possible. Other inventions that have contributed to the understanding of internal body systems was the stethoscope and X-ray. One Canadian contribution was the invention of Insulin which has become a vital necessity to people with diabetes. Finally, another major contribution were pacemakers. There are many more technologies that were made but for now, we'll just discuss these ones.

Ultra sound machines were first used for medical purposes in the 1950s. Today, they are mainly used for monitoring the fetus in a woman's uterus or to monitor the health of a pregnant woman.

Also, another important factor about Ultrasounds is that they can be used to tell if the baby will have any health problem when they are born.

Now let's talk about the Stethoscope and X-ray. The stethoscope was invented in 1816 by Rene Laennec. The stethoscope was an important invention for internal body systems because it allowed doctors to further understand the respiratory and circulatory systems of a human. It did this by listening to the heart beat of the patient. The doctor could have easier time diagnosing any heart problems with their patients. With X-rays, which was invented by Wilhelm Conrad, used radiation to see inside a patient's body and even into the bones. These x-ray machines are good for checking if someone may have a broken bone, or ruptured blood vessels, or anything involving the digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems.

A very important invention made by a Canadian, Federick Banting, is Insulin, which is a hormone that is created in the pancreas. Insulin turns the glucose in food into energy for our bodies. Since diabetics can't produce Insulin, they take a synthetic Insulin in order to control their blood sugar levels. Insulin was a very important invention as it saved the lives of many people around the world.

Pacemakers are another very important invention to the understanding of internal body systems. This was another Canadian Invention by John Hopps in the 1950s. There have been many modification to this device but the main point of it is to act almost like an artificial heart. It's used for people who have heart problems and whose hearts aren't beating at a reasonable rate.

Those were just a couple of inventions over the years that have helped our understanding of internal body systems, there are many more but they can be discussed some other time.

Work Sited

"The Importance of Pacemakers" Articledashboard. 31 May

http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/The-Importance-of-Heart-Pacemakers/882697

"The Importance of Insulin to Diabetics" eHow. 31 May

http://www.ehow.com/about_5101155_importance-insulin-diabetics.html

"The Importance of X-ray Technicians" ezinarticles. 31 May

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Importance-of-X-Ray-Technicians&id=2343222

"Stethoscope" Facts. 31 May

http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/28/Stethoscope.html

"The Importance of Ultra Sounds" cbsnews. 31 May

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/02/uttm/americanbaby/main2529929.shtml

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