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| This image is a mammogram showing a benign mass. Courtesy of: http://emedicine.medscape.com/ |
My family has history with medical ailments and, consequently, a history using medical technologies. Since mammograms are essentially x-ray pictures, my mother would not learned she had breast cancer, if x-rays hadn’t been discovered. Wilhelm Rontgen’s invention of the x-ray is a work of art because it takes photographs of the body, which are used in the medical field (uconlineprogram). These photographs identify illnesses, such as cancer in my mother.
When exploring art, I was fascinated by a painting by Virgil Wong, shown below. Wong explores the evolution of human health, conveying the daily life of someone with an illness, such as asthma (Wong). By emphasizing with color where specific pain lies on the body and what parts of the day the pain is felt, Wong teaches viewers to understand people with this illness. I have a sister with asthma. When she was younger, she suffered severe pain from wheezing, coughing, or fatigue - all of which Wong portrays perfectly.
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| Virgil Wong's piece, titled "Asthma," shows the daily life of someone with asthma. Courtesy of: http://virgilwong.com/art/ |
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| This is an image of Warwick controlling an artificial robotic arm using the electrode array implanted in his arm. Courtesy of: https://singularityhub.com/ |
Art in medical technologies is also used to provide therapeutic treatment for those suffering with a particular illness. Diane Gromala, who suffers from chronic pain, used her skills in art and computer science to create an immersive virtual reality where patients can emerge themselves into a virtual reality, resulting in sensories equivalent to prescription drugs (TEDx Talks). This treatment effectively relieves short-term pain by intensely distracting patients from their pain (TEDx Talks). Additionally, in scientist Kevin Warwick’s Project Cyborg 2.0, an implanted electrode array in Warwick’s arm could control an electric wheelchair and an artificial hand (Warwick). This implant could allow people with disabilities to improve their mobility in their daily lives. The combination of art and science can benefit medicine through medical technologies.
Finally, I close with this excerpt from the modern-day Hippocratic Oath, indicating the relationship between science and art today (Tyson):
“I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.”
References
- uconlineprogram. “Medicine pt2” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2017.
- Wong, Virgil. "Art." Virgil Wong. Web. 28 Apr. 2017. <http://virgilwong.com/art/>.
- TEDx Talks. “TEDxAmericanRiviera - Diane Gromala - Curative Powers of Wet, Raw Beauty” Online video clip. YouTube. 7 Dec.2011. Web. 28 Apr. 2017.
- Warwick, Kevin. "Project Cyborg 2.0." Kevin Warwick. Web. 28 Apr. 2017. <http://www.kevinwarwick.com/project-cyborg-2-0/>.
- Tyson, Peter. "The Hippocratic Oath Today." PBS: NOVA. Public Broadcasting Service, 27 Mar. 2001. Web. 28 Apr. 2017. <http://http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/hippocratic-oath-today.html>.
Katherine, I appreciated how you were able to connect the work of artists and medical technologies to your family's personal experiences with illnesses. Virgil Wong's artwork depicting the pain of someone suffering from asthma was very fascinating to me - as someone who does not suffer from this ailment, his artwork was able to help me understand the pain that someone with asthma experiences on a daily basis. While I tend to think of the connection between medical technology and art as more of how art can advance medical procedures and increase knowledge of medical technologies, your example of Wong's artwork helped me realize that art can also affect people's emotional experience of medical illnesses.
ReplyDeleteHi Katherine, I agree that without the advancement in technology, things like the x-ray, mammogram, and MRI would not have existed. Furthermore, without these it would be much harder to identify certain illnesses. Diane Gromala's work is very interesting and unique. Being able to be in a virtual world didn't seem possible a 100 years ago but with advancements today, it is now used to help treat chronic pain. I really enjoyed the connections you made.
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