Medical technology is a part of the Health technology which encompasses a wide range of health care products and, in one form or another, is used to diagnose, monitor or treat every disease or condition that affects humans. These innovative technologies (application of science and technology) are improving the quality of health care delivered and patient outcomes through earlier diagnosis, less invasive treatment options and reductions in hospital stays and rehabilitation times.^[1]

Health technology is:

Any intervention that may be used to promote health, to prevent, diagnose or treat disease or for rehabilitation or long-term care. This includes the pharmaceuticals, devices, procedures and organizational systems used in health care.^[2]

[edit] What is the Medical Technology?

Medical technology extends and improves life. It alleviates pain, injury and handicap. Its role in healthcare is essential. Incessant medical technology innovation enhances the quality and effectiveness of care. Billions of patients worldwide depend on medical technology at home, at the doctor's, at hospital and in nursing homes. Wheelchairs, pacemakers, orthopedic shoes, spectacles and contact lenses, insulin pens, hip prostheses, condoms, oxygen masks, dental floss, MRI scanners, pregnancy tests, surgical instruments, bandages, syringes, life-support machines: more than 500,000 products (10,000 generic groups) are available today. Medical technology represents only 6,3% of total healthcare expenditure in Europe - a modest share if you consider the benefits for every member of society.^[3]

' EUCOMED.

[edit] Allied health profession

The term Medical technology may also refer to the duties performed by clinical laboratory professionals in various settings within the public and private sectors. The work of these professionals encompass clinical applications of chemistry, genetics, hematology, immunohematology (blood banking), immunology, microbiology, serology, urinalysis and miscellaneous body fluid analysis. These professionals may be referred to as Medical Technologists (MT) and Medical Laboratory Technicians (MLT) or as Clinical Laboratory Scientists (CLS) and Clinical Laboratory Technicians (CLT) depending on education, certification and/or licensure. The term medical technologist in this sense is sometimes considered a misnomer due to the fact that these professionals do not actually produce novel medical technology but rather apply the ones already in place in conjunction with the knowledge of the scientific principles of clinical laboratory science, which has been considered a more appropriate term for the discipline.^[4]

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