Bedside Medicine. To many, the concept summons images of a Norman Rockwell painting. A kind Doctor with his stethoscope in hand and a trusting little boy or girl. In the the 1940's when Mr. Rockwell painted The Doctor and Doll, many of the technologies we take for granted today, were primitive or were not available.
Lets look a a few examples, starting with the ubiquitous stethoscope. The stethoscope was invented in 1816 by French Physician Rene Laennec. Made from wood, it resembled a tube with a small funnel attached ( Antique monaural stethoscope ). The Fax, or fac simile, was invented by Scottish inventor Alexander Bain 1n 1843. Xerox developed a facsimile machine in the 1970's. The method of pulse oximetry was developed by Takuo Aoyagi in 1972. By the mid-80's, several companies were manufacturing Pulse Oximeters. Today Pulse Oximeters are available as a 1 piece device that slips over your finger (Nonin Finger Pulse OX).
In the future, the Technologies column will examine hardware, software and middleware. Everything from Nurse Call Systems to Laboratory's with networking.
Contribution compliments of Al Rottkamp, MBA, MS
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