Professional Documents
Culture Documents
David Jimenez
Abstract
This paper provides my opinion that the dependence on medical technology is a
necessary quality for the critical advancement and improvement of the medical field and society
itself. It also provides an in-depth analysis on how this type of technology helps other areas of
the economy and not just the medical field itself. The central claim revolves around even though
medical technology is extremely costly, the cost is outweighed by the benefits that it brings in.
The concept of medical technology has been around since the beginning of modern
medicine. It is a tool that has helped society and various other areas of the economy develop into
what they are today. Many people have many misconceptions revolving this topic such as
believing that medical technology has very heavy costs take away and how its potential to fail
can lead to the taking from other important economic blocs. The truth to this is that despite the
fact of the heavy inputs that are needed to develop medical technology, it still generates a great
amount of benefits that are needed for humanity to be able to continue advancing.
It is true that this type of technology is very difficult to make and in the majority of cases
it is very costly. On top of this is also said that these medical innovations are sometimes too risky
and have the potential to fail and lead to a great amount of money loss. In turn, this makes
treatments very expensive. Thus, this lead to the effect that these medical advancements are
really expensive and unattainable for the general public and are only available for individuals
with more money or resources. So you might be thinking, have we really advanced at all?
According to my research, many innovations in the last century have been successful and
have generated benefits that were deemed crucial for the advancement of medicine. This was the
start of creating a sense of dependence on medical tools or technology. Most importantly it also
sparked a new era of thought and development. This led to the continuous amount of research
that is still being done on the daily by professionals to keep improving treatments and methods.
This is done in order to be able to support the cost of medical technology and make it available
for everyone. Nicolas Bakalar, the author of the New York Times article Milestones in Medical
Technology, states how Medical devices should remain in the public domain and many agreed
3
to refused to patent their invention (Bakalar., 2012). This shows how medical technology is
something that is used mainly for the benefit of the peoplei Some examples of this were from
simple common medical tools to revolutionary things such as, the stethoscope, anesthesia, and
the first ever mechanical heart. These simple innovations helped the medical take a leap into an
era where technology is combined with medicine and the medical field is greatly improved.
One specific benefit that came from all this was how medical diagnosis was greatly
enhanced. Determining if a person is ill is the most important role of a doctor or medical facility.
A simple fever can be right away be identified and treated without any sort of complications, but
what if the illness is something more advanced, like cancer for example. In this modern day,
there is thousands of diseases that affect the human being in many ways. Advancements in
medical technology have allowed physicians to better diagnose their patients and provide them
with accurate results of their treatments. It is something that is put to practice in many medical
areas all over the world, Areas like biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, information technology, the
development of medical devices and equipment, and more have all made significant
contributions to improving the health of people all around the world (Cocchi., 2016).
It is also very important to show how a human might be able to fight against someone
else, but how well would a human do in a fight against the polio virus? The greatest benefit that
medical technology could have ever produced, is the tools to fight back deadly diseases. This led
to the creation of treatments and vaccines that treat or cure life-threatening diseases like malaria,
polio, MMR, and more prevent the spread of disease and save thousands of lives all around the
At the same time, medical technology is not only saving lives, but it also opens the
gateway for people who work in the medical field is being conditioned or trained to use newly
developed technology since the beginning of their professional practice of medicine. They are
taught how to use the technology for the adequate treatments that a patient needs. This
continuous development of technology in the medical field saves countless lives and improve the
overall quality of life. It also included some statistics that show how medical technology is
A specific example of this is how many surgeries are now performed by robotic arms
over a traditional open surgery conducted by human hand. This improves worldwide protocols
for surgery treatments in many ways. Dr. Nikhil a cancer surgeon from Atlanta explains how,
Blood loss is significantly reduced and how, robotic surgeries are considered minimally
invasive (meaning it doesnt run the risk of touching other organs) (Dellorto., 2008).
The sole use of robotic arms went on to serve as a means to gather data and be used as
research to open gateways to other developments. One advantage that was heavily implied by the
use of this technology is how blood loss is largely reduced and how it only targets the specified
region of the body. This has largely affected treatments worldwide by making them safer because
it reduces the risk of human error or bad judgement. Dr. NIkhil also highlighted how this
procedure has made some patients experience only minimal pain and are in the hospital less than
24 hours which means that recovering time is also improved (Dellorto., 2008). Medical
technology in this case not only benefits the patients, but also improves the doctors job and role
Even though a lot of benefits are gained it still is a fact that developing new medical
technology and trying to mass produce it is extremely costly. According to the Modern Medicine
Network, Innovative medical procedures and equipment can improve patient diagnosis and care,
but also add millions of dollars to annual healthcare costs, according to an analysis sponsored by
the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Ass (Wechsler., 2003). This means that even though treatments
have improved in quality and results, other areas like healthcare have become a costly benefit for
people. Not only does it affect people but it also generates more costs for the medical institutions
that provide these services. An example of this is how Jill Wechsler, editor of the Modern
Medicine Network say that an increase in the number of MRI units and in hospitals with cardiac
catheterization labs boosts costs noticeably (Wechsler., 2003). This created increased in costs
and a surplus for the demand that is needed. The KFF Organization explains how, Since 1970,
health care spending has grown at an average annual rate of 9.8%, or about 2.5 percentage
points faster than the economy as measured by the nominal gross domestic product
(GDP).(KFF., 2007).But, in turn to these large costs a large demand has been created and thus
making the advancement of development of technology be quicker and faster. This improvement
then led to what has resulted in the modernization of hospitals or any medical institution such as
a pharmacy. In the early 1900s a simple infection was enough to kill someone. With the
modernization that medical technology has brought, medical institutions have become so
advanced that they are ready for any possible situation that requires either long term or
immediate treatment. Even if costs have increased it still an undeniable fact that they have
become a more effective service that grants a world of benefits to whom need it the most.
6
As medical technology progress and evolve into more advanced equipment it has begun
to or has fully moved on to a more digital age. This mean that medical technology is now
something that relies heavily on the use of electrical means. This a large benefit because it
makes medical technology easier and more reliable to use. An example that Scotty Farris,
author of the article Ushering in The Future, gives is how, Diverse systems can now run on a
common data infrastructure. This shift has moved the LAN from a simple computer network to a
utility for information transport that pipes connectivity to all users of bandwidth facility-wide
(Farris., 2005). This basically means that medical date can now be analyzed and transferred
quickly from one facility to another. This is crucial because it helps on how medical records are
stored and utilized in the modern day. A hypothetical situation is how people can get hurt or
become ill in some foreign place. Medical records can then be transferred or referred to from the
facility that they are in. This helps improve treatment and improves the overall quality of the
hospitals. With the digital age of medical technology, the change of treatments for various
diseases has changed. The biggest examples of this is how x-rays, heart sensors, cancer detectors
and other biomedical equipment has improved and become a crucial need for many medical
facilities. This shows the positive direct relationship that medicine and technology have had on
society and how they polished the medical field into something better and more reliable.
All in all, in can be concluded that medical technology plays a big factor in
and employed in the medical field. Despite this, it grants humanity with the
7
ability to be able to fight back against the thousands of diseases that plague
this world. It keeps improving every day as doctors and research scientist
keep working towards the common goal of making society better and
stronger. No matter what the cost is, medical technology will always be
needed. It is safe to say that without it, humanity wouldnt be at the point
References
Nicholas Bakalar, Karren Barrow, Jon Huang, Diantha Parker (October 10, 2012). Milestones in
Medical Technology. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com.
Jess White, Renee Cocchi (No Available Date). Medical Technology. Retrieved from
http://healthcarebusinesstech.com
Dellorto Danielle (August 5, 2008). Surgical Side Effect Cut With Robotic Arms. Retrieved from
https://cnn.com
8
Jill Wechsler (December 2003). New Technologies Provide Varying Levels of Costs and
Benefits. Retrieved from http://www.proquest.com
David Cutler (December 2007). The Lifetime Costs and Benefits of Medical Technology.
Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com
Farris Scotty (May 2005). Ushering in the Future. Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com
:KFF (2007, March 2). How Changes in Medical Technology Affect Healthcare Costs. Retrieved
from https://www.kff.org