Tuesday, September 15, 2009

What I Wish I was a Part of

The (biomedical) event that I would most witness and be a part of is the successful implementation of the first heart-lung machine in human history. This machine takes control over the circulation of blood and oxygen during surgery. If I remember correctly, the first use of this piece of equipment was in the 1950s for a man who needed open heart surgery. The heart-lung machine was used to take over the function of blood and oxygen circulation while the patient was unable to (as his heart needed to be exposed and operated on). This moment in history was extraordinary in several ways. It represented the first time that doctors could use technology to take over vital body functions in order to have greater flexibility and control over surgery. The successful implementation of this device also opens up a window into groundbreaking new area of Bioengineering research. If this piece of technology could keep temporarily take over vital body functions, then could machines be used as complete replacements to organs and other parts of the body that have become defective or diseased? This line of research continues today with huge momentum and I would very much like to have been on the team that worked on this original biomedical technology and been part of this significant time.

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