History of Medical Technology Profession and Inventions

Vocabulary flashcards covering major historical figures, medical instruments, timeline milestones, and technological innovations in Medical Laboratory Science.

Medical Technology

A branch of the allied health professions dealing with the study of disciplines such as blood banking, chemistry, microbiology, parasitology, hematology, clinical microscopy, histology, and histopathology.

Spirometer

A medical instrument developed by John Hutchinson used to measure lung function and provide diagnostic information; derived from 'spiro' (to breathe) and 'meter' (to measure).

Sphygmomanometer

An instrument introduced by Jules Herisson that renders the action of the arteries apparent to the eye.

Hippocrates

Greek physician known as the 'Father of Medicine' who grounded medical assessment in observation and documentation, and developed the theory of the four humors.

Theory of the Four Humors

A medical theory developed by Hippocrates stating health depends on the balance of four humors: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile.

Galen

A prominent Greek physician and philosopher (129–216 CE) who described diabetes as 'diarrhea of urine' and established the relationship between fluid intake and urine volume.

Uroscopy

Also known as water casting, a diagnostic practice in Medieval Europe where physicians relied on urine examination for diagnosis.

Rene Laennec

Inventor of the stethoscope in 1816, which marked the first diagnostic medical breakthrough.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

The 'Father of Microbiology' who crafted early microscopes in 1660 and observed bacteria, sperm cells, and protozoa.

Hermann von Helmholtz

Inventor of the ophthalmoscope in 1850-1851, used to examine the internal structures of the eye including the retina, optic nerve, and blood vessels.

Manuel García

A 19th-century Spanish laryngologist who revolutionized the study of the vocal cords and larynx in 1855 using the laryngoscope.

Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen

Discovered X-rays in 1859, a form of electromagnetic radiation used to create diagnostic images of bones and internal organs.

Willem Einthoven

Dutch physician and physiologist who invented the Einthoven electrocardiograph (ECG/EKG) in 1903 to record the electrical activity of the heart.

Elizabeth Kenny

Australian nurse who developed the Kenny method in 1910 as an innovative approach to treating polio.

Philip Drinker

Developer of the Drinker respirator ('iron lung') in 1927, designed to assist breathing in patients with respiratory paralysis caused by polio.

John Gibbon

Designed and refined the heart-lung machine (cardiopulmonary bypass machine) in 1939 to perform circulation and oxygenation during open-heart surgery.

Werner Forssmann

German physician who performed the first human cardiac catheterization on himself in 1929 by guiding a catheter into his heart via an arm vein.

Tomography

A radiologic technique used for obtaining clear X-ray images of deep internal structures.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

A medical imaging technique that uses magnetic fields and computer-generated radio waves to generate detailed images of internal organs and tissues.

William Pepper

Advocate for public health reform who opened a Clinical Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania in 1895 to highlight the service role of clinical laboratories.

John Kolmer

Called in 1918 for the development of a national method to certify medical technologists and train laboratory technicians.

ASCP

American Society for Clinical Pathology, established in 1922 by 39 physicians; created a formal certification program for laboratory workers in 1928.

Laboratorio Municipal de Manila

Laboratory established in 1887 in the Philippines to examine food, water, and clinical samples, and to analyze disease outbreaks.

26th Medical Laboratory of the 6th US Army

The first clinical laboratory in the Philippines, established during World War II at 208 Quiricada Street, Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Mrs. Willa Hilgert-Hedrick

Acknowledged as the Founder of Medical Technology Education in the Philippines, who established the first Medical Technology school at Manila Sanitarium and Hospital in 1954.

Dr. Jesse Umali

The first graduate of the Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology course in the Philippines.

Republic Act No. 5527

The Philippine Medical Technology Act of 1969, which legally enacted the regulation and practice of Medical Technology in the Philippines.

Edward Jenner

Discovered the vaccination for smallpox in 1796.

Marie Francois Xavier Bichat

Identified organs by their types of tissues in 1880.

Agostino Bassi

Produced disease in worms by injection of organic material in 1835.

Louis Pasteur

Produced immunity to rabies in 1857.

Gregor Mendel

Enunciated his law of inherited characteristics from studies on plants in 1866.

Joseph Lister

Father of antiseptic (modern) surgery who demonstrated in 1870 that surgical infections are caused by airborne organisms.

Robert Koch

Presented the first images of bacilli (anthrax, and later the tubercle bacilli) in 1877.

Ellie Metchnikoff

Described phagocytes in blood and their role in fighting infection in 1886.

Ernst von Bergmann

Introduced steam sterilization in surgery in 1886.

Karl Landsteiner

Distinguished blood groups through the development of the ABO blood group system in 1902.

August von Wassermann

Developed immunologic tests for syphilis in 1906.

Hans Fischer

Worked out the structure of hemoglobin in 1929.

Jonas Salk

Developed the poliomyelitis vaccine in 1954.

James Westgard

Formulated the Westgard rules for laboratory quality control in 1973.

Baruch Samuel Blumberg

Introduced the Hepatitis B vaccine in 1980.

Kary Mullis

Developed Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in 1985.

Andre van Steirteghem

Introduced intracytoplasmic sperm injection in 1992.

James Thomson

Derived the first human stem cell line in 1998.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scan

An advanced imaging technique used in oncology, neurology, and cardiology that detects disease at a cellular level before anatomical changes are visible.