Havy Tran - DESMA 9 Week 4 Blog #4

 Blog #4 - Medicine + Technology + Art


Medicine, technology, and art have existed as one for longer than I have lived on this earth. The first example that comes to mind when I think about art in medicine and technology are x-rays. X-rays to me are a form of art that shows the bones under our skin through the use of technology. In this week's lectures, Professor Vesna mentions how the intersection of medicine, technology, and art are important in human dissection as all parts of the human body are able to be depicted accurately. 


Head x-ray, brain in MRI - Education and Human Development


As a child, I despised getting x-rays taken at the dentist. It would hurt my mouth, cause me to gag, and would make me tear up. I have never thought about how x-rays were stumbled upon until today. Wilhelm Roentgen, a physics professor discovered x-rays in 1895. According to Columbia Surgery, Roentgen was testing whether cathode rays could pass through glass and was surprised to see an incandescent green light projecting through the heavy black paper. Through this experiment, he discovered that light would pass though most substances, but still leave shadows of solid objects. Because of this accidental discovery, he called them 'X' which stood for 'unknown' rays. Additionally, Roentgen found that X-rays would show through human tissue as well, revealing the bone underneath the skin. 


Wilhelm Roentgen


The news of Roentgen's discovery spread across the world. According to the National Library of Medicine, physicians and physicists began as early as January 1896 to utilize this discovery in order to observe the human skeleton and other human organs. The discovery of the x-ray then lead to the beginning of radiology. The use of x-rays in radiology was successful in helping identify lesions in order to treat them. The first patient was treated by radiotherapy in June 1896, in which the x-rays were able to "ionize gas". As a result of this study, the discovery of electrons was found in 1897. 






Although you may not realize that x-rays are a form of art as it is mostly seen as a medical and technological tool, the images that are produced are pictures and therefore, pieces of art. 





Sources:

images:

1. Communications, SEHD. “Head X-Ray, Brain in MRI.” Education and Human Development, 30 Mar. 2020, https://education.tamu.edu/growth-hormone-alters-brain-structure-and-combats-traumatic-brain-injury-symptoms/head-x-ray-brain-in-mri/. 

2. Health, UCLA. “Radiology.” UCLA Health System, https://www.uclahealth.org/medical-services/radiology. 

3. “Wilhelm Röntgen.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Apr. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_R%C3%B6ntgen. 


other:

4. Aksnes, Ingrid. “History of X-Rays - 125 Years in the Making (Pt 1).” Excillum, 8 Sept. 2021, https://www.excillum.com/history-of-x-rays-early-years/. 

5. “History of Medicine: Dr. Roentgen's Accidental X-Rays.” History of Medicine: X-Ray Imaging | Columbia Surgery, https://columbiasurgery.org/news/2015/09/17/history-medicine-dr-roentgen-s-accidental-x-rays. 

6. M;, Tubiana. “[Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and the Discovery of X-Rays].” Bulletin De L'Academie Nationale De Medecine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8696882/#:~:text=W.C.,that%20their%20nature%20was%20unknown. 

7. “November 8, 1895: Roentgen's Discovery of X-Rays.” American Physical Society, https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200111/history.cfm. 

8. Vesna, Victoria. “Human body and Medical Technologies” Lecture, Part 1. DESMA 9, UCLA. Accessed 26th April 2023. 




Comments

  1. Anastasia MaksimenkoApril 30, 2023 at 3:32 PM

    I love your post!! Thank you for the wonderful insight on this topic from your point of view. I totally agree about how x-rays are a form of art. It is such a common thing to us and can be juts looked over a basic thing, but thinking of it as art makes so much sense since it is so intricate. It is true that this discovery led to do many other developments in science that could also be seen as art and is so helpful for medecine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Christina_Ramirez_desma9April 30, 2023 at 11:05 PM

    Hi!

    Great job on your blog post. I have a lot of experience with getting dental X-rays, and previously I did not care much for them. However, after going over this week's materials, I can confidently say that they are an interesting form of art as well. Not only are these X-rays art in themselves because of how they image the body, but they can help artists who are attempting to draw the body, or specifically the mouth. In a way, I think they are just as beneficial as human dissections once were for artists working with the body.

    ReplyDelete

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