Unit 4: MedTech and Art

I believe one of the most common practices that bridges medical technologies and art is plastic surgery. However, the more unappreciated practice is that of using computer software to accurately model the human anatomy for scientific papers, research, and textbooks. Researchers and artists at John Hopkins University are undertaking a project to create a three-dimensional visualization of the nervous system and how it branches through the body (McKenna). The results can be used by doctors and surgeons to treat patients suffering from Pudendal nerve entrapment, which is a source of chronic pain due to the compression of nerve endings (Fred).

Anatomical illustrations of the nervous system in the pelvis region.

In addition, graduate students at John Hopkins School of Medicine have created a computer program that models post-operative livers in patients. This is very important as doctors need to understand the anatomy of post-operative livers when treating patients who underwent liver transplant surgery, but the resources are currently lacking.

However, there are more extreme cases that make me feel a little bit eery, but only if they are used in the wrong way. Kevin Warwick is famous for implanting a microchip in his nervous system so that he can directly communicate with a computer or another human with the same implantation without moving ("Professor Kevin Warwick"). I definitely see the potential benefits for disabled people to live a more normal life as this gives them another means to communicate. However, this technology can be used maliciously such as being used in a way that the computer communicates with the human, and since it is connected to the human's nervous system, there is the possibility that the motions of a human can be controlled.

Professor Kevin Warwick

Another ethical dilemma that can be discussed is the genetic alteration of humans. Recently, there have been babies born with the genetic code from three people (ABC News), and again I see the potential medical benefits of genetic alteration to prevent people being born with severe illnesses. However, we must have the conversation about what amount of alteration is too much, and whether it should only be legal to alter the genetic code to prevent illnesses, not to give certain desirable physical characteristics. In conclusion, the combination of medical advances and art can lead to great things, but as a society, we must determine when it is ethical and when it goes too far.


Resources

McKenna, Courtney. "Pudendal Nerve Entrapment: An Anatomical Study And Three-Dimensional Visualization Of Nerve Variations And Branching Patterns." Graduate Program: Thesis. The Department of Art as Applied to Medicine at John Hopkins University, 1 Jan. 2010. 

Howard, Fred. "Pudendal Neurlagia Information." URMC Imaging. University of Rochester, Medical Center, 1 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/medialibraries/urmcmedia/imaging/patients/documents/pudendal_neuralgia_brochure.pdf>.

Siegel, Elyssa. "Visual Resource for Liver Transplant." Visual Resource for Liver Transplant RSS. Department of Art as Applied to Medicine at John Hopkins University, 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://livertransplant.jhmi.edu/?page_id=23>

"Professor Kevin Warwick." Kevin Warwick - Home Page. The University of Reading. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.kevinwarwick.org>.

"Report: First Genetically Altered Babies." ABC News. ABC News Network, 4 May 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=117472>