Medical technology has undergone some of the most revolutionary changes of any field in the Twentieth Century. And while many of the advances have included drugs, many more have involved the technology physicians use to diagnose and treat illness. Several winners of the Design News Engineer of the Year award have won for the medical-device breakthroughs they have brought about, including Rowland Redington (MRIs), Terry Haber (safe needles), Victor Poirier (left ventricular heart device), Dean Kamen (infusion pumps for dispensing drugs), and our most recent winner, Lynn Otten, who developed the first device to receive FDA approval for long-term implant in the brain. It controls essential tremors from Parkinson's Disease.
Here are some of the other medical breakthroughs of the century:
The first practical electrocardiograph, invented by Willem Einthoven in 1900.
The first X-ray patent, awarded to William Coolidge in 1917.
The electroencephalograph, 1929.
The first artificial kidney for humans, 1943.
The heart-lung machine, 1953.
The cardiac pacemaker, invented by Wilson Greatbach, 1958.
The laser, which enables present-day applications such as non-invasive retina surgery, cauterization of stomach ulcers, and the clearing away of cholesterol blockages of arteries.
Functional neuromuscular stimulation, 1961.
Fiberoptic endoscopes, to enable physicians to visually examine body cavities and hollow organs without invasive surgery, 1968.
Positron Emission Tomography, 1970.
Computer Axial Tomography, 1970.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 1979.
Lithotripsy, the ultrasonic technique for crushing kidney stones.
Functional Electrical Stimulation for grasp-and-release motor prosthesis.
The Jarvik artificial heart, 1982.
Cochlear implants, 1983.
The Parastep motor prosthesis system for limb control, 1995.
And many more. What others would you add to this admittedly partial list?
Almost every automaker has had to 'pick a side' when it comes to alternative fuel options and ways to divest from a reliance on gasoline. Fiat is looking to back compressed natural gas or liquid propane as an interim solution.
Plastic may not be the most beloved of materials to the more environmentally minded, but Plasti 2012 aimed to mold a different opinion of the material in people's minds.
The rare earth element market has become steadily more rational, and new sources coming online will continue to reduce costs. Still, it is unlikely that prices will drop to their former lows.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
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