Medical equipment

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 devices
• Surgical instruments

Medical equipment companies

• Guidant Corporation
• Johnson & Johnson
• Medtronic
• St.Jude Medical

Medical Equipment Inspection Procedures for BMET's

See also: medical test

External links

• Bonding Medical Equipment with VHB Tape

Learn About Medical Equipment

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