I have had the opportunity over the past couple of weeks to have some medical tests that have employed technology that just was not around a few years ago. The coolest by far was the echocardiogram. It probably would not have been as cool if they had found bad things but everything is fine. Basically, with an ultrasound they look at your heart and each of its components. I could see all four chambers of my heart doing their thing and the little valves opening and closing. I could see the spark of white on the screen where my valve leaks (thus the reason for the test). I could see each valve and its parts doing its work. The most amazing thing was even being able to see the red blood cells rushing through the artery - all right there on the monitor while I was perfectly comfortable on the little bed. Amazing stuff and much more pleasant than the far off memory I have of spending days in the hospital when I was about 5 having the invasive heart catheterization. It makes the work that everyone does in technology really hit home.
posted on
Tuesday, January 20, 2004 6:18 AM