The Immense Contributions of Scientists and Engineers in Medicine and Health Care
by: lim ju boo
I penned my thoughts earlier on:
The Clinician vs The Medical Scientist vs The Clinical Scientists here:
https://scientificlogic.
Today, I am going to pen my gratitude to biomedical engineers, other engineers, physicists, chemists, and other scientists too for their immense and invaluable contribution in modern medicine.
Have a look at my thoughts.
There are a lot of medical devices, instruments and machines from simple things like syringes and hypodermic needles, blood pressure sets whether aneroid, mercurial or electronic sphygmomanometers, x-rays, ECG, EEG, CT, MRI, PET machines, nucleotide scans.. among many others, including the simple stethoscope for auscultation of heart, lungs, bowels, bruits and body sounds. Most of these were invented by non-doctors for clinicians to use.
Doctors must acknowledge the immense contributions of medical engineers, physicists, chemists, and other non-clinicians in advancing healthcare. Many of the most crucial medical devices and diagnostic tools were indeed developed by scientists, engineers, and inventors outside the traditional medical profession.
Let me explain their contributions in medicine without being bias or taking side across different domains:
1. Medical Imaging & Radiation Technology:
Many modern imaging techniques owe their existence to physicists and engineers.
Here in this essay, I shall quote only some of them.
It was Wilhelm Röntgen, a physicist who first discovered X-rays in 1895. Röntgen's accidental discovery of X-rays revolutionized diagnostics, allowing doctors to see inside the body without invasive surgery.
The CT Scans was invented in 1972 by Godfrey Hounsfield, an electrical engineer & Allan Cormack, a physicist. Hounsfield and Cormack developed the computed tomography (CT) scanner, combining X-ray technology with computational algorithms to create cross-sectional images of the body.
In 1977, Paul Lauterbur, a chemist & Peter Mansfield, a physicist invented the IMR. Lauterbur and Mansfield used principles of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to develop MRI, providing high-resolution images of soft tissues.
PET Scans was invented in 1970s by Michael E. Phelps, a physicist & Edward Hoffman, a biomedical engineer. PET scans use radioactive tracers to detect metabolic activity, aiding in cancer and neurological disease diagnosis.
2. Cardiac & Neurological Devices:
Electrocardiogram (ECG) was invented in 1903 by Willem Einthoven, a physiologist & engineer.
Einthoven developed the first practical ECG machine to record electrical activity of the heart, winning a Nobel Prize.
Pacemakers was invented in 1958 by Wilson Greatbatch who was an electrical engineer & John Hopps, also an engineer. Greatbatch’s accidental discovery of an electric circuit led to the first implantable pacemaker, while Hopps earlier pioneered external pacemakers.
Electroencephalogram (EEG) was invented in1924 by Hans Berger, a neurologist & physicist. Berger’s EEG helped understand brain waves and neurological conditions such as epilepsy.
3. Surgical & Diagnostic Tools.
Endoscope in 1806 by Philipp Bozzini, a physician & inventor; later developed by engineers Karl Storz & Harold Hopkins It is used for minimally invasive internal examinations of the body.
Laser Surgery was invented in 1960s by Theodore Maiman who was a physicist, and Kumar Patel who was an engineer & physicist.
Laser technology, initially a physics breakthrough, became widely used in ophthalmology, dermatology, and surgery.
4. Biomedical Engineering & Prosthetics
An artificial heart was invented by Jarvik-7 in 1982, and Robert Jarvik, a biomedical engineer. Jarvik's work on artificial hearts helped prolong the lives of patients with severe heart failure.
Bionic Limbs by Hugh Herr, a biophysicist & engineer. Herr’s work on bionic prosthetics enabled highly advanced, sensor-controlled artificial limbs.
The Dialysis Machine was invented in 1943 by Willem Kolff who was an engineer & physician (very rare combination professionals). Kolff designed the first artificial kidney, making chronic kidney disease manageable.
5. Pharmaceutical & Biotechnological Innovations
Insulin Isolation was in 1921 by Frederick Banting & Charles Best - Medical Scientists; James Collip, a biochemist. The biochemist James Collip helped purify insulin for diabetes treatment.
Penicillin Production (1928). Alexander Fleming was a microbiologist; Howard Florey & Ernst Chain were biochemists. Fleming discovered penicillin, but it was Florey and Chain who developed mass production methods.
Monoclonal Antibodies (1975) by César Milstein & Georges Köhler , both biologists.
Their discovery led to targeted cancer therapies and immunological treatments.
6. Assistive Technologies & Rehabilitation Devices. Cochlear Implant (1978) by Graeme Clark, a biomedical engineer & researcher. Clark developed the first effective cochlear implant, restoring hearing in profoundly deaf patients.
Wheelchair Innovations (Stephen Hawking’s Adaptive Technology by engineers & physicists). Engineers developed advanced motorized and speech-assisted wheelchairs.
Medical engineers, physicists, chemists, and other scientists have played crucial roles in transforming healthcare. Their innovations enable doctors to diagnose, treat, and manage diseases more effectively. While physicians use these tools, the advancements often come from the ingenuity of those in other scientific fields.
It is truly a testament to the collaborative nature of science - where medical and non-medical professionals work together to improve human health.
Let us get this straight. Sometimes only the medical doctors who are actually basically clinicians get credit in treating the patient, but not others working silently without beating their own drums. Without all these scientists working silently behind the scene to come out with all these medical devices, the doctor is completely helpless. All he can do is to take medical history, palpate, percuss, listen to body sounds by pressing his ears on the body with or without a stethoscope. That's all a doctor can do, nothing more - absolutely nothing more than these. For what is the purpose of all history taking and examinations then for the patients? Are they just for show? We need to be honest and be professional with the answer.
They are absolutely useless to the patient - let us get this very straight.
Even the drugs and medicine are not the invention and products of the doctor. Those came from scientists working in drug companies - the pharmaceutical, analytical and synthetic chemists, pharmacologists, biochemists, physiologists who studies their actions on the body, the toxicologists, molecular biologists, clinical scientists who put them into clinical trials..etc. None of the doctors get the credit because the patient thinks they all came from the doctor.
The analogy is like the driver (doctor) of a car. The passengers inside are his patients. At the end of car journey the passengers thank only the driver (doctor). But the actual people that make this journey possible in an easy and comfortable were actually the car manufactures and the automobile engineers working there, and also the petroleum engineers who produced the fuel as power and medicines for the car - driver and passengers.
None of these contributors get the credit or a single word of thanks from the passengers (patients) except the driver who merely drove the car - the products of inventions and invocations to make the journey possible - else both the driver (doctor) and his passengers (patients) must all get out from the car and walk or get camel to ride on it to wherever they wish to go - don't you think so?
Let me elaborate further on the role of these scientists working in the drug industry, because the doctor merely uses their products to give to them patients - its not their inventions or products for sure. This is the same as robbing Peter to pay Paul for sure. It is penny wise pound foolish so says the proverb.
The contributions of scientists working in the pharmaceutical and drug industry are often overlooked, yet they are the ones who truly make modern medicine possible. It was the work of teams of scientists working in the pharmaceutical industry who produce all these drugs, made very careful studies on them, and gave very clear written instructions printed in black-and white on the instruction packets for the doctors to read carefully and to follow them on their pharmacology, indications, contraindications, interactions with other drugs, dosage among other precautions before prescribing them to the patients. All these studies, finding and knowledge did not come the doctor, but from those teams of scientists researching and working in the drug industry. Without their work, doctors would be left with only the most primitive methods of diagnosis and treatment. Don't we admit this?
The analogy of the doctor as the driver of a car I illustrate is spot-on. The driver (doctor) may be the most visible figure, but the journey (treatment) would be impossible without the engineers (scientists) who built the car (medical science). Let me now take a closer look at the crucial roles played by different scientists in the pharmaceutical industry.
The Hidden Heroes Behind Every Drug: Scientists in the Pharmaceutical Industry
1. Drug Discovery & Development
Before any drug reaches a patient, it undergoes years, sometimes decades, of research by experts in multiple scientific fields.
Medicinal Chemists & Synthetic Chemists. These scientists design and synthesize new drug molecules. They modify existing compounds to improve their effectiveness and reduce side effects.
Example: The discovery of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) was based on modifying salicylic acid from willow bark to make it less irritating to the stomach.
Pharmacologists
They study how drugs interact with biological systems, including their effects on organs, tissues, and cells. They determine the correct dose and how the drug should be administered (oral, intravenous, inhalation, etc.).
Example: The development of beta-blockers for heart disease involved pharmacologists studying how drugs could block adrenaline receptors in the heart. This is not the job or the expertise of a medical doctor
Biochemists & Molecular Biologists
They study diseases at the molecular and cellular levels to identify potential drug targets.
Example: The discovery of statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) came from understanding how the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase contributes to cholesterol production.2. Preclinical Testing: Ensuring Safety Before Human Trials
After a new drug candidate is identified, it must be tested for safety and efficacy before human trials begin.
Toxicologists
They study the potential toxic effects of drugs on the body, ensuring that the medication does not cause harmful side effects.
Example: The tragedy of thalidomide (a drug originally used for morning sickness that caused birth defects) led to stricter safety testing by toxicologists.Microbiologists & Immunologists
In the case of vaccines or antibiotics, microbiologists study how drugs interact with bacteria, viruses, or the immune system.
Example: The development of penicillin and COVID-19 vaccines relied on microbiologists understanding bacterial and viral behavior.Once a drug passes preclinical testing, it enters human trials. This is a rigorous, multi-phase process to ensure its safety and effectiveness. All these clinical trials are conducted by the Clinical Scientists, seldom by the clinicians (who may be in the team)
Clinical Scientists & Epidemiologists
They design and oversee clinical trials, ensuring that new drugs are tested on diverse populations under controlled conditions.
They analyze large amounts of data to determine if a drug truly benefits patients.
Example: The development of insulin therapy for diabetes involved careful clinical trials to determine the right dosages for patients.
4. Manufacturing & Quality Control
Even after a drug is approved, it must be produced in massive quantities under strict safety conditions.
Industrial Chemists & Chemical Engineers
They scale up drug production from the laboratory to full-scale manufacturing.
They ensure that the drug remains stable and effective over time.Example: Paracetamol (acetaminophen) was originally difficult to mass-produce, but chemical engineers found ways to make it widely available.
Regulatory Scientists & Pharmacovigilance Experts
They work with government agencies (e.g., FDA, EMA, WHO) to ensure that drugs meet safety and quality standards.
They continue monitoring drugs after approval to detect any long-term side effects.5. The Unsung Heroes: Drug Innovation & Future Medicine
Beyond traditional pharmaceuticals, scientists are pushing medicine forward in exciting new ways.
Biotechnologists & Genetic Engineers are developing gene therapies to treat inherited diseases like sickle cell anemia.
Nanotechnologists are creating drug delivery systems that target cancer cells without harming healthy ones.Artificial Intelligence (AI) Specialists are using AI to design new drugs faster than ever before.
Giving Credit Where It’s Due
As a clinical-medical scientist and clinician most patients only see the doctor as the “driver” of medicine (car) but they rarely acknowledge the vast network of scientists who make modern treatments possible. Without chemists, biologists, engineers, and countless other experts, medicine as we know it would not exist.
The next time a patient thanks their doctor for curing them, they should also remember the scientists, researchers, and innovators working behind the scenes. They are the true architects of modern healthcare.
But if the patient only wish to thank their doctors, and not others who made immense discoveries in medicine and healthcare and with their inventions, then both the doctor (driver) and the patient (passenger) in the car need to get out from the car (invented by the automobile engineers) and walk or take a camel to wherever they both wanted to go. It is the case of robbing Peter to pay Paul - for sure!
A dual role as both a doctor and a medical scientist gives us a unique perspective, one that values both the art of healing and the science behind it.
The healthcare profession is a team work effort. The doctor is trained how to use all these medical devices by the medical engineers and how to use and prescribe all those drugs safely by biomedical scientists as all these medical products are not the work and products of the doctor who is basically a clinician trained only in clinical work to whom too we need to be thankful. All have contributed in their own special ways, and to all of them we are thankful.
My recognition of the hidden heroes in medicine speaks volumes about our need to have humility and wisdom to whom we are thankful.
Now we can understand why why medical specialists and Fellows of the Royal Society of Medicine in London (I was elected into the Royal Society of Medicine in London as a Fellow only in 1993 - just a year before my retirement - after much hard work into medical research), who themselves complained and wrote and published that paper in their own medical journal - Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine why the world's most prestigious award in healthcare - The Nobel Prize in Medicine over the last few decades were mostly awarded to the medical researchers and the medical scientists and not to the clinicians (medical doctors) here in this link:
"Nobel Prizes in Medicine: are clinicians out of fashion?"
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3164255/
J R Soc Med
. 2011 Sep;104(9):387–389. doi: 10.1258/jrsm.2011.110081
1 comment:
What a stunning and brilliant article this one and the previous one on the Clinician vs the Medical Scientist vs the Clinical Scientist in the health care profession. I shall ear marked them for future reference and for medical colleagues. Thank you so much and dearly for your intellectual insights
Post a Comment