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    In today's world the key word is "TECHNOLOGY" . Where we look you can see how technology has affected our day to day life whether it is the CAS that is being implemented or the simple billing software used in retail shops.

     With technology on such a high note it is only natural that computers are seen everywhere also. There are very few people now who haven't computers and don't know about them.

     Computer has become such a common thing so it is only a matter of time that computer has come to affect one of the most important field in our day to day life.... the field of medicine.

     The ways in which computer has affected medical field is numerous. In this article , you will find some pointers as to how computer is used in this field.

"Information Management" 

      Information is everywhere.... whether in the hospital or in a company. We need information to make decision. The same is true for doctors. Only if the necessary information such a test results. medical history etc are available can he/she make a diagnosis and help the patient

    Computer has helped in this by removing the loads of paper work and saving it in hard disks and floppy disks instead. It has made management of patient details which include test results etc easier. Most importantly the doctor has available such information with the click of a finger which leads in faster diagnosis. And so better service to the patient.

"Medical Imaging"

      Years ago "X Ray" was a common thing and now a days "ultrasound" and 
"MRI" seems to be a common word in the field of medicine. 

     Gone are the days when these took days for the results to come. Now within a matter of hours the results of such tests are easily available. The technology used for these processes have been so developed that the diagnosis process has been reduced a lot compared to earlier. And more than that the test results more reliable.

     Do the test and go see the doctor. By the time you reach there your test results will have reached him.

     These tests are done for sometimes serious diseases like cancer , tumors etc. When the present doctor is not the expert all he/she has to do is email the test results to his/her counterpart in USA or somewhere who is the expert and within hours the doctor can pass diagnosis and email back. All this without the expensive phone calls and trip to the USA.

"Laboratory Work"

        Previously laboratory work was done by hand by us mortals. This was time consuming and the test results less than accurate.

     Now the testing procedures have itself been computerized with the equipments used itself microprocessor based. This not only speeds up the entire process but also the results are readily available.

"Genetics"

      Genetics is one of the most researched field in medicine. It is common belief that disease like diabetes have genetic connections also. Recently it has been in the news that people are working in the human genome project. Which is nothing else but finding out which genes does what all along with its combination.

      If computers were not around this human genome project would have moved in a snail s pace.

"Expert Systems"

       After all the doctor is human.... it is  not possible for him/her alone to predict all the possible causes for a symptoms and figure all possible ways of treatment. There are various types of cancer and various treatment procedures.

    Expert systems are nothing but software in which all the details of a particular domain has been given example oncology. Once a patient's symptoms and tests results etc have been provided this software will give a possible treatment for the patient. Such softwares are produced after years of research and development.

"Muscular Systems"

    Many of you must have read about the "robot man". He has a chip placed in his brain and using that chip he can move a bionic arm a continent away.

    This is just one of the many miracles that computer has produced.

"Medical Equipments"

    The medical equipments that are used have been computerized. We even have available something as simple as digital thermometer to more complicated equipments like patient monitoring systems.

  All these equipment developments have aided the doctors in faster diagnosis and give them more accurate results.

"Others"

    People are finding more and more ways to use software and computers in the field of medicine. So it only natural that more and more uses will come as time passes/

Till then......bye....

       - Vinitha .V
       (Biomedical Engineer - Creationz Unlimited)

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