Week 4 | Medicine + Technology + Art

 When looking closer at medicine, technology, and art, I was genuinely surprised at their commonalities. From the fundamental concepts of structure and balance, to how modern medical technology derived from artistic doings, MedTech was derived from artistic concepts (Vesna, part II). 

 

X-Ray Image of a Rose

    Ingber's "Architecture of Life" reading helped me understand more of the concepts of MedTech not only because the text itself, but also because of a guest lecture with Gerald de Jong a few weeks prior. Ingber's text emphasized the similarities between tensegrity in man-made structures and the human body (Ingber). Ingber points out that the one critical structure shared amongst all is that tension is transmitted equally across all the parts. Similarly, Gerald's lecture also mentioned how the tubes and wires all work together to balance out the structures (Jong). Jong's structures then greatly resemble the structures shown in the aforementioned reading.

Gerald de Jong's Guest Lecture on April 7, 2022

     As a student that's solely in the pre-health aspect of academics, it felt like a breath of fresh air when I found out arts and medicines are way more common than anyone would think. When human dissection first occurred, it was primarily done in aid of artistic drawings, as the objectives were to better detail the anatomical drawings being made at the time (Vesna, part I). It wasn't until the Renaissance period when dissections turned more scientific, and that dissections were now driven towards science and medicine. 

    An example of modern day MedTech would be the Human Genome Project, where all human genes are now in a database for efficient accessibility. This then allows various experiments, such as exploring functions, testing on model organisms, and so much more ("Human Genome Project Results").

    With modern day medicine being far advanced than the past, it leaves a question: how will medtech continue to advance in the future? As far as we know, arts and science will always continue to coevolve together.

The Future of MedTech

Word Count: 301

Sources:

[1] Deloitte US. The Future of Medtech. 2020. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSaANYqTUVc.

[2] “Human Genome Project Results.” Genome.Gov, https://www.genome.gov/human-genome-project/results. Accessed 21 Apr. 2022.

[3] Ingber, Donald. The Architecture of Life - Scientific American. 1 Jan. 1998, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-architecture-of-life/.

[4] Jong, Gerald. "DESMA 9: Math + Art with Gerald de Jong." DESMA 9, 7 April 2022, University of California Los Angeles. Lecture. 

[5] Nguyen, Michelle. Screenshot from DESMA9: Guest Lecture with Gerald de Jong MATH + ART. 7 April 2022. Author's Personal Collection.  

[6] Vesna, Victoria. "Human Body and Medical Technologies, part 1." DESMA9, 18 April 2022, University of California Los Angeles. Lecture.

[7] Vesna, Victoria. "Human Body and Medical Technologies, part 2." DESMA9, 18 April 2022, University of California Los Angeles. Lecture.

[8]  X Ray-Art-Amazing-Photography.Jpg. https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ae/a1/88/aea18880209a06aa0919368128b57dd6--x-ray-art-amazing-photography.jpg. Accessed 21 Apr. 2022.

 


 

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