The interesting history of medical technology

The history of medical technology and medical technology design as well as the associated triumph of new treatment methods was critically observed from the beginning. This even applies to the diagnostic techniques routinely used today, which were met with skepticism or even vehement rejection when they were introduced in the 19th century. But why was there resistance to the methods that today simplify medical diagnostics so much? How did people view healing and supportive tools hundreds of years ago? What factors made it possible for medical technology to gain acceptance? In the following article we would like to give you an understanding of the history of medical technology and the achievements, problems and challenges associated with it.

From the early Middle Ages to the 19th century, humoral pathology represented the dominant approach in the history of medical technology. This concept was based on the assumptions of Greek natural philosophy, which is also known as the theory of humours. According to this, the four cardinal humours of the body (blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile) are inevitably associated with the four elemental qualities (warm, cold, moist, dry). When there is a balance between the juices, a person is healthy, while an imbalance leads to illness. In the case of illness, no further diagnosis was necessary, since the cause seemed to be explained in the imbalance of the juices. In the history of medical technology, the basic prerequisite for the introduction of technical procedures was the transition from humoral pathological to iatromechanical concepts. While humoral pathology in the history of medical technology took the view that the body's fluid balance was the cause of health and disease, iatromechanics represents a metaphysical approach permeated by superstition, according to which medicine and diagnostics were determined by numerical mystical or astrological speculations. From today's perspective, iatromechanics is of course just as unscientific, but it marked an important turning point in the history of medical technology. As a result, concepts of illness were no longer purely subjective, but understood within the framework of a larger, seemingly universal context. This change of attitude was later to become decisive in the history of medical technology.

Als Motor der zunehmenden Verwissenschaftlichung in der Geschichte der Medizintechnik zählt die in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts naturwissenschaftlich ausgerichtete Physiologie. Ihr Ziel war es, Lebensvorgänge auf fundierte Weise zu analysieren. Die 1628 publizierte Entdeckung des Blutkreislaufes durch William Harvey sowie der Nachweis Niels Stensens, dass es sich beim Herzen um eine Art Muskelpumpe handelt, schufen so zum Beispiel die Voraussetzungen für das Messen des Blutdrucks. Gegen den Widerstand vieler Mediziner, vermutlich aus Angst vor Dequalifizierung, setzte sich die apparative Blutdruckmessung in den 1920ern als Routineverfahren durch. Der Siegeszug der Diagnosetechnik ließ sich in der Geschichte der Medizintechnik nicht verhindern, da die unlängst naturwissenschaftlich orientierte Medizin technisch erzeugte Körperdaten verlangte. In retrospektiver Betrachtung der Geschichte der Medizintechnik ist die Akzeptanz technischer Diagnoseverfahren essenziell. Mehr noch führte aber der Wandel im Verständnis von Krankheiten zu einem drastischen Umdenken. Geprägt vom humoralpatholgischen Verständnis wurde Krankheit auch noch bis ins 19. Jahrhundert ganz überwiegend als Erkrankung des einzelnen Menschen begriffen und eben nicht als abstrakte Entität. Doch erst wenn im Krankheitsverständnis das Individuum losgelöst von der Pathologie erscheint und Krankheit als eigenständige Erscheinung verstanden wird, die jeden befallen kann, sind technisch erzeugten Körperdaten von übergeordneter Relevanz.

Physiology, which was scientifically oriented in the second half of the 19th century, is one of the driving forces behind the increasing scientific focus in the history of medical technology. Its goal was to analyze life processes in a well-founded way. The discovery of blood circulation by William Harvey, published in 1628, and Niels Stensen's proof that the heart is a kind of muscular pump created the conditions for measuring blood pressure, for example. Against the resistance of many medical professionals, probably out of fear of dequalification, blood pressure measurement by apparatus became established as a routine procedure in the 1920s. The triumph of diagnostic technology could not be prevented in the history of medical technology, since recently scientifically oriented medicine required technically generated body data. In a retrospective view of the history of medical technology, the acceptance of technical diagnostic procedures is essential. Even more, however, the change in the understanding of diseases led to a drastic rethinking. Shaped by the humoral-pathological understanding, illness was still predominantly understood up to the 19th century as an illness of the individual person and not as an abstract entity. But only when the individual appears detached from the pathology in the understanding of illness, it is understood as an independent phenomenon that can affect anyone, technically generated body data becomes of overriding relevance.

Only the construction of modern hospitals made it possible to test technical procedures in everyday clinical practice. Normal values ​​were determined on the basis of pathological measurement results and the correlation of physiological phenomena in the event of deviations from these was defined. The emergence of modern hospitals thus created an institutionalized framework for mechanization in the history of medical technology, since here pathological and anatomical findings could be compared intersubjectively for the first time. Furthermore, illness should no longer be understood as "against nature", but as a deviating phenomenon of life with immediate quantifiability.

However, this mechanization was not just met with enthusiasm. Many doctors feared that the new possibilities and methods would put them down and they would lose their medical discretion. Then as now, the problems in implementing new technologies were primarily in people themselves. The relationship between doctor and patient and the subjective diagnosis of the doctor, which had been customary until then, were increasingly eroding. The objective measurement result replaced the doctor's subjective report, which effectively disempowered the doctor. He was no longer able to grasp the new technology, which naturally leads to fear and rejection. There was also considerable resistance in the medical profession, since they feared that the interposition of technical elements would lead to the abstinence of the holistic view of the human being and, on the other hand, a considerable loss of status. The discussion about the mechanization of medicine had its origins in the 19th century and was then conducted under the keyword "apparatus medicine". While there have always been specific tools throughout the history of medical technology and healing, these have only been used for invasive procedures such as cutting or opening relevant regions during surgical procedures. Before 1800, there were hardly any technical devices for medical diagnostics, until an unprecedented phase of innovation began afterwards. Within a century essential diagnostic techniques were developed such as endoscopy, stethoscopes, thermometry or blood pressure measurement as well as essential methods in the field of laboratory analysis of body fluids. All of these are procedures that are routinely used today, but which have often met with rejection and resistance in the history of medical technology. Even many learned minds did not believe that chemical processes can be easily transferred to medicine. Medical technology is of course much further developed today. The acceptance of the equipment is given today and so the designers are mainly concerned with continuously improving the existing equipment. In addition to ergonomics and usability, i.e. the continuous improvement of haptics and the furnishing of medical areas, the UX in medical technology and the graphical user interface are now of paramount importance. The development of the equipment goes far beyond mere acceptance and is now dedicated to user-friendliness and the user's enjoyment of use. Thus, the present may also represent an important part in the history of medical technology.

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