Week 4: Medicine + Technology + Art

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  The practice of medicine dates back as early as 10,900 BCE. Andreas Vesalius was known as the founder of modern human anatomy. He had groundbreaking work and a new approach, at the time, to studying the human body through dissections and very accurate illustrations. The book Gray’s Anatomy by Henry Gray was a ground-breaking text known for its well-written descriptions and images of human anatomy. Even today, many doctors still refer to this book.

(Gray)

Technology was incorporated into hospitals in the early 20th century. The first MRI image actually took 5 hours to produce. Now hospitals use all sorts of technology to help patients, inclusing MRI machines and X-rays.

First Mri Machine in 1973 (Star Imaging Admin)


Technology has played a huge role in the advancement of medicine. Two people have used this to their advantage and turned it into art. “Using an iPad app created by Virgil Wong and Katie McCurdy through their company Medical Avatar LLC, patients track and communicate their symptoms over time (“Virgil Wong”).” Wong meets with the participants and with the observations from the app, creates drawings, as shown below.


(“Virgil Wong”)


Technology has also helped those live better lives. Neil Harbisson is color blind and can only see in grayscale. He had surgery in 2004 where doctors attached an antenna to the back of his head, which transforms light waves into sounds. “The term cyborg refers to a being with human and machine elements, giving them enhanced abilities (Bushby).” This surgery allowed him to “hear” colors.


Another thing that doctors are able to do with technology is replicate human body parts, in a way. The EXTRA EAR project has created a ¼ scale of a human ear. “The scaffold was seeded with living cells and the ear was cultured in a rotating micro-gravity bioreactor which allowed the cells to grow in a 3D structure (Lusting).” This technology can be helpful in potentially replicating a life sized model or one that can be used.



Art can be seen everywhere. For medicine, art has allowed doctors to visualize the human body. “Body Code is a selection of biomedical animations that explore the human body at the microscopic and molecular scale (Berry).” One of the goals of this project was to reach public audiences who usually aren't exposed to this knowledge and to inform them.


An animation of the Synthesis of ATP (Berry)


“When we look at the work of these artists, we can begin to understand that art reflects the changing scientific and cultural understandings of medicine (Mutter Edu Staff).” Art can be used as a tool to help people learn about medicine and human anatomy, and to further help people. 





Works Cited

Berry, Drew. “Body Code.” Wehi, 2003, https://www.wehi.edu.au/wehi-tv/body-code-2/. Accessed 24 April 2025.

Bushby, Helen. “'Meeting a real-life cyborg was gobsmacking' says film director.” BBC, 19 September 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg58r70yj43o. Accessed 24 April 2025.

Gray, Henry. “Gray's Anatomy: Henry Gray.” Amazon.com, https://www.amazon.com/Grays-Anatomy-Henry-Gray/dp/B0051OKEIS. Accessed 24 April 2025.

Lusting, Andreas. “1/4 Scale Ear.” Stelarc, 2014, http://stelarc.org/_activity-20240.php. Accessed 24 April 2025.

Mutter Edu Staff. “The Relationship Between Art and Medicine | Mütter Museum.” Mutter Museum, 10 December 2021, https://muttermuseum.org/stories/posts/relationship-between-art-and-medicine. Accessed 24 April 2025.

Star Imaging Admin. “The Fascinating History of The MRI Machine.” Star Imaging, 9 August 2018, https://starimagingindia.com/blog/history-of-the-mri-machine/. Accessed 24 April 2025.

“Virgil Wong.” Virgil Wong: Artist + Digital Technologist Transforming Human Health, https://www.virgilwong.com/. Accessed 24 April 2025.

Comments

  1. Kylie BachApril 24, 2025 at 3:58 PM

    Hi Lauren! I like how your blog post provided historical context at the beginning. I think it is notable to mention that the intersection between art and medicine has always been deeply intertwined -- with anatomy being illustrated by hand. Since then, art and medicine has expanded, and you did a great job showing how that intersection has evolved -- through mentioning 3D printing body parts and the term "cyborg."

    ReplyDelete
  2. AndreaAveryDESMA9April 27, 2025 at 9:19 PM

    Hello Lauren,
    I appreciated your entry since you delved into origin of medicine. I find it fascinating how although "Gray's Anatomy" was published in 1858 that doctors still use this text as a reference today! I also found it fascinating that the first MRI machine took 5 hours to produce images. I think that including that information really demonstrates how far technology has come from previously. In all, I throughly enjoyed your blog post this week!
    Take care,
    Andrea

    ReplyDelete
  3. TakaApril 27, 2025 at 11:54 PM

    Hi Lauren! I love this response! My favorite part is how you started out by giving a history of how medicine itself came about and how that eventually lead to medical technologies like the MRI machine you mention. You further strengthen your blog post by stating how it lead to art developments too and how these work within each other. Overall I enjoyed this response, thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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