This week has seen the country celebrating the NHS hitting the grand old age of 70. Ever since opening its doors on July 5th 1948, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t benefited from the health care they have provided.
The NHS has been a symbol of pride in the UK and an institution envied by many countries around the world. It has allowed anybody, rich and poor alike, to receive medical treatment without question.
Despite the savage cuts imposed on the NHS in the name of ‘austerity’, the NHS carries on. This is in most part thanks to the hard work and dedication of it’s staff who work extremely long hours and face insurmountable challenges on a daily basis, often sacrificing their social lives to ensure the safety and wellbeing of others.
That being said, if you push past the usual narrative of funding cuts and bureaucracy, you will find that the NHS is an innovator and has been a world first in creating and implementing medical technologies. Below we are going to take a look at a few that have helped shape healthcare as we know it.
1949 – Intraocular Lens
Invented by Harold Ridley, a civilian ophthalmologist who operated on Royal Air Force pilots with eye injuries, the intraocular lens was made with acrylic as opposed to glass after Ridley noticed that pilots with acrylic shards in their eyes had less infections as opposed to pilots with glass shards. This idea helped revolutionise the practice of ophthalmology and having an Intraocular lens implanted is now considered one of the safest operations in the world.
1958 – Ultrasound
Ian Donald first suggested using an industrial sonar on pregnant women just after WWII, and with a bit of refinement with the help of a local electronics company came up with ultrasound technology. By the end of the 20th century, ultrasound imaging had become routine in maternity clinics throughout the developed world. The technology has undergone extensive development over the past 20 years. Thanks to this invention women across the world can enjoy accurate images of their unborn child.
1978 – Test Tube Babies
1991 – Robotic Surgery
PROBOT became the first robot to actively remove tissue from a patient in a clinical setting. The robot carried out a Transurethral Resection of the Prostate under the direction of a surgeon, cutting back an enlarged prostate gland that was obstructing urine flow. Designed by a team at the Imperial College London, robotic-assisted surgery is becoming more commonplace and allows surgeons to perform complex procedures with ever greater precision.
2013 - Bionic Hands
The worlds first fully articulated prosthetic hand was developed by an NHS employee in Scotland. The innovative design of the i-Limb ultra-revolution allows the wearer to move individual fingers and perform 24 different grips either by muscle movement or via a smartphone app. This advancement, which is still advancing today, has helped many people including amputees and war veterans live easier lives and regain some independence again.
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