Modern Medicine Flashcards
(93 cards)
Impact of WW1
- portable x-rays
- blood transfusions
- plastic surgery
Discovery of X-rays
1895 - Wilhelm Röntgen
How do X-rays work
- X- rays pass easily through soft flesh, less well through bone
- images produced by directing X-rays at body part in front of photographic plate
Problem with traditional X-rays in war
- located in hospitals miles from battlefields
- equipment involved glass tubes that were unreliable, often stopped working
Work of William Coolidge
- American scientist
- 1913 - invented more reliable X-ray tube: ‘Coolidge tube’
- widely used by end of war, still used today
Work of Marie Curie
- Polish scientist
- 1914 - mobile X-ray units: ambulances equipped with X-ray machines, could be easily transported across battlefield
- set up schools with Antoine Béclère to train radiologists
Discovery of blood groups
- 1900 - Karl Landsteiner
- discovered certain blood groups couldn’t be mixed together as blood would clot, blocking vessels
Result of Landsteiner’s discovery
Doctors could perform more successful blood transfusions, if donor’s blood group was same as patients
How did WW1 impact blood transfusions
- more serious wounds from gunshots + explosive shells so many soldiers died of blood loss - important to be able to store blood
- 1914 - doctors found sodium citrate stopped blood clotting, could be stored
- 1917 - first blood depot at Battle of Cambrai
When was British National Blood Transfusion Service established
1946
How did WW1 impact plastic urgery
- doctors in France + Germany worked on skin grafts before war
- Harold Gilles set up first plastic surgery unit for British Army during war
What did Harold Gilles develop
Pedicle tubes technique
What did Harold Gilles want to do
Reconstruct facial injuries so soldiers (and other people) could have normal appearance
How did pedicle tubes technique work
- skin partially cut from healthy part of body
- grown + reattached to damaged area to cover scarring
Harold Gilles’ work in WW2
- continued work with assistant - Archibald McIndoe
- many of McIndoe’s patients where pilots who had been trapped in burning aircraft
Who discovered penicillin
Alexander Fleming
What did Fleming discover first
Iysozyme
How did Fleming discover Iysozyme
- WW1 - noticed many men die of septic wounds caused by staphylococcal bacteria when working in army hospital
- 1922 - discovered antiseptic substance in tears (Iysozme)
Problem with Iysozme
Only worked on some germs
Fleming’s discovery of penicillin
- 1928
- cleaning old culture dishes he had been growing staphylococci in for past experiments
- found fungal spore had landed + grown in a dish
- saw colonies of staphylococci around mould stopped growing
- fungus identified as penicillium notatum, produced substance that killed bacteria - penicillin
Problem Fleming had with penicillin
- published findings in articles 1929-1931
- nobody willing to fund further research - hadn’t tested it on animals
What did Florey and Chain find way to do
Purify penicillin
How did Florey and Chain develop penicillin purification method
- 1938-1940 - Florey’s team in Oxford made breakthrough discovery
- Chain (on team) devised freeze-drying method part of process
How much penicillin needed to treat 1 patient
2000 litres