Here are 9 of the most incredible medical achievements you’ll definitely want to know
about!
9 - Robotic doctors and surgeons The use of robotics in surgery was first seen
in 1987, with the introduction of laparoscopy.
The fields of robotics and medicine has steadily advanced since then, and in 1999, the Da Vinci
Surgical System was introduced and approved by the FDA the following year.
The machine went on to become the world's most well known robotic surgery machine, and
surgeons get to perform complex surgical procedures from a console, while maintaining a minimal
invasive approach on patients.
The Da Vinci has since treated over a million patients worldwide, conducting operations
such as prostatectomies, gynecological procedures, and even cardiac valve repair.
Although we often use the term "robotic surgery", the operations are still not autonomous and
require a human operator.
But the field of Artificial Intelligence is progressing steadily, and scientists foresee
a future where surgeries can be performed autonomously by robots.
While this might sound scary, it does have the advantage of avoiding human error commonly
done by surgeons. 8 - Surviving without a heart
A beating heart and a palpable pulse usually signifies life within a human being, and it
was once unimaginable for a person to live without a heart.
But modern medicine has changed that.
Currently, artificial hearts are typically used in cardiac surgery as a temporary measure
to bridge the time between heart transplantations.
However, permanent or total artificial heart prototypes are becoming more and more advanced,
and soon people might be able to survive years on such devices without complications or fear
of malfunction.
In July 2008, 14 year old D’Zhana Simmons from South Carolina who suffered from dilated
cardiomyopathy underwent a heart transplant surgery.
The operation was necessary, as her own heart had weakened so much and was unable to pump
blood efficiently to her whole body.
Unfortunately, the new heart she received failed to function properly following the
surgery, and Simmons was fitted to a custom built artificial blood pumping device while
she waited for a new heart to become available.
Patients being put on such devices are common in cardiac surgery, but usually only for a
few hours as it is a temporary measure.
Amazingly, Simmons managed to survive a record breaking 118 days before a new heart was available,
the first time a child has survived for so long in that manner.
Whoa!!
7 - Robotic arms and legs Prosthetic arms and legs are no longer the
static non-functioning dummy limbs they once were.
Advancements in technology have allowed the exact actions and movements of a person’s
muscles and tendons to be recreated on robotic limbs.
This is achieved through biosensors, microprocessors, wireless technology, and battery powered motors.
What's even more impressive is that we've achieved a level where the robotic prostheses'
movements can be triggered with mere thought, requiring no muscle input whatsoever.
In 2012, a 58 year old woman named Cathy Hutchinson successfully maneuvered a robotic arm to take
a sip of a drink without any help, after a team of researchers from BrainGate implanted
a sensor in her brain.
Hutchinson had been almost completely paralyzed for 15 years because of a stroke, but she
was able to perform the movement just by thinking about it.
A similar breakthrough was seen the same year, when a team from the University of Pittsburgh
implanted two grids of electrode into a 52 year old quadriplegic woman named Jan Shuermann,
giving her mental access to a robotic arm.
Within weeks, she was able to perform fluid motions that exceeded the scientists' expectations.
With the arm, Shuermann managed to move objects around, feed herself, and even give a big
thumbs up.
6 - Gene based cancer therapy The discovery of DNA is probably one of the
most important scientific discoveries ever, one that has allowed us to pick apart the
very fabric of who we are.
It dictates everything about us, from skin color to genetic disease, and plays a great
role in fields like forensics.
Many breakthroughs surrounding DNA have been achieved, such as being able to perform an
automated genetic analysis within a short time.
With it, scientists can now determine the susceptibility of an individual towards certain
types of cancer before any signs or symptoms even show up, prompting early screening and
management that would eventually save the person's life.
And that's not all.
By analyzing the mutated genome of extracted tumors, doctors can pinpoint the cancer's
sensitivity towards different chemicals, allowing the correct chemotherapy to be applied.
5 - Antibiotics Antibiotics might sound like a relatively
boring subject compared to the others listed here, but it deserves mention as many recognize
it as one of the most - if not THE most - important scientific discoveries of the 20th Century.
Before we get there, let's talk a bit about "germ theory".
The discovery of the existence of germs itself is equally important, and has completely changed
our views of diseases.
Prior to that, "experts" believed in all sorts of bogus explanations for infections, such
as being caused by bad air or miasma.
In the mid 19th Century, French biologist Louis Pasteur proved that many diseases are
actually caused by microorganisms, and his work resulted in applied hygienic practices
and improved sanitation, consequently lowering the occurrence of infectious diseases.
But still, infections could almost only be avoided at that time, and not cured.
An infected wound almost meant certain breath or amputation.
The real game changer came in 1928 with Alexander Fleming's accidental discovery of penicillin.
The busy researcher's lab was often untidy, and one night he stacked a bunch of petri
dishes on a bench before leaving for home.
Upon returning, he found that one of his cultures was contaminated with a fungus, with colonies
of bacteria surrounding the mould being destroyed.
From that fungus, Fleming developed penicillin, the world's first antibiotic, a feat that
revolutionized modern medicine entirely.
4 - Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy AIDS, which is caused by the HIV virus is
a deadly disease that affects millions of people worldwide.
The sexually transmitted disease was first discovered in the 1980s following a pandemic
which resulted in an influx of patients around that time.
Contracting AIDS was considered a breath sentence, as the disease steadily interferes with the
body's immune system, making the person more and more susceptible to infections.
Although a cure or vaccine is still yet to be found, the survival rate of HIV patients
has improved significantly with the introduction of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, shortened
HAART, which was first introduced to the medical community in 1996 at a medical conference
in Vancouver.
With the continuous administration of various antiretroviral drugs, AIDS has changed from
a breath sentence into a manageable condition.
Disease progression of patients could be slowed down incredibly, leading to plunging rates
of breaths and hospitalizations.
A HIV-contracted individual can now expect to live a near normal lifespan despite carrying
the disease.
3 - Eradication of diseases through vaccination Throughout the course of human history, various
communicable diseases have had a large impact on human society.
It’s sometimes hard to believe that some of those diseases that once roamed the Earth,
savagely grilling large populations, could end up being completely eradicated and becoming
non-existent today.
This could not have happened without the miracle known as vaccines.
Vaccination is the administration of a harmless antigenic material that’s capable of triggering
a person's immune system to develop adaptive immunity towards certain pathogens.
This would result in them not being susceptible to the pathogen should they come across it
later in life.
The first ever vaccine was introduced in 1796 by British physician Edward Jenner who created
a smallpox vaccine by extracting antigens taken from cowpox lesions.
Fast forward to almost two centuries later, the last ever naturally occurring smallpox
case was recorded in 1977.
Three years later, the World Health Organization officially declared smallpox as the first
ever disease to be eradicated worldwide.
The second disease to follow suit was rinderpest, a viral disease that mainly affected cattle.
Polio is also on its way there, and is expected to be globally eradicated by 2018.
2 - Full face transplant Compared to other surgical operations, a face
transplant belongs in its own category in terms of difficulty and the amount of ethical
debate surrounding it and its performance.
The procedure involves removing a face from a cadaver, or a part of it, and surgically
attaching it to a living person.
The first ever partial face transplant took place in France in 2005, which was performed
on Isabelle Dinoire, a then 38 year old woman whose face had been mauled by her dog.
Five years later, the first ever full face transplant was successfully carried out in
Spain in 2010, on a man who got injured in a shooting accident.
More and more successful face transplants have been making headlines worldwide, one
of the latest being Andy Sandness who received his new face in June 2016.
10 years prior to that, Andy had attempted suicide by shooting himself in the face.
He survived despite having blown off most of his face, and immediately regretted his
decision.
A decade later, with the expertise of 60 medical professionals in an operation room at Mayo
Clinic, Andy underwent 56 hours of face transplant surgery.
The donor face belonged to a deceased 21 year old man who had then recently grilled himself.
After 8 months of recovery, Andy's swollen face healed perfectly, and he has now almost
regained all facial functions including his sense of smell, speech articulation, and can
chew food normally.
He now enjoys being just another normal face in the crowd without getting stares wherever
he goes.
1 - Bionic Eye Making a blind person see again is nothing
short of a miracle, something believed by Christians to be one of Jesus' most well-known
feats.
Today, curing blindness is somewhat possible, and is considered the most life changing procedure
that advanced medicine is capable of.
The inability to perceive visual stimuli, isn’t one single uniform condition, and
can be caused by multiple different reasons be it a defect in the brain, optic nerve,
or the eyes themselves.
A single cure for all types of blindness is unlikely to ever exist, but there are a few
rapidly progressing avenues that are showing increasingly amazing outcomes on a daily basis.
A combination in the fields of robotics and medicine has introduced the bionic eye, a
machine implant capable of letting completely blind individuals perceive and distinguish
light, and even describe objects and peoples' faces to a certain extent.
The mechanics are similar to that of a digital camera, and the created image is sent into
the brain either via cables connected to the person’s neurons, or via wireless transmission.
The Argus II is a working example that has been available for a few years in Europe and
the US.
The bionic eye is built into sunglasses, and the images are transmitted wirelessly to implants
in the user's retinas.
The system is still far from perfect though.
The images are very unclear, and only let the blind person regain very basic functions
like distinguishing clear colors and reading words typed in very large fonts.
But rooms for improvements are endless, and once-blind people might end obtaining HD vision
one day.
Here's what's next!