NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Technology is evolving exponentially around us, changing our lives down to the cellular level. Over the last century, here are some of the inventions that have expanded health care:

• Defibrillator: In 1932, Dr. William Bennett Kouwenhoven creates a way for doctors and other health professionals to restart a heart using electricity.
• Heart-lung machine: The first successful open-heart surgery using a machine to add oxygen to and circulate blood through a human body.
• Polio vaccine: This invention almost eradicates polio in the world, introducing weak strains of the virus so that people can produce antibodies o fight it off.
• Laser: Theodore H. Maiman, a physicist, creates this at Hughes Research Laboratories.
• Artificial heart: The Jarvik 7 is implanted into Dr. Barney Clark and keeps him alive for 112 days. The first one runs on an external compressor.
• Genetic engineering: The first sale of genetically engineered produce is approved by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1985.
• Xbox Kinect: Microsoft’s technology allows video game fans to play without using a controller. Different fitness games are released for use with this accessory.
• Xbox One: Microsoft’s latest home gaming console is designed to work with a new version of the Kinect accessory.

In a list of health care innovations, you may have been caught off guard by the last two. While they qualify as inventions, many would argue that they haven’t had the positive effect that the others have had on the course of human history. Now there is an argument that the Xbox One and Kinect may belong on this prestigious list, as the game console is able to monitor an individual’s heart rate using optical technology.