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400
Hospitals
By the fourth century the concept of a hospital – a place where patients could be treated by doctors with access to specialized equipment – was emerging in parts of the Roman Empire. The origins of hospitals begin in Christian religious establishments that were meant to provide lodgings and care for the poor and travellers. -
Period: 500 to Dec 31, 1300
Middle Ages
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659
Dental Amalgams
One of the most important contributions to medicine from medieval China was to creation of amalgams for dental procedures. A text from the year 659 details the first use of a substance for tooth fillings, which was made up of silver and tin. The process was not used in Europe until the 16th century. -
Jan 1, 754
Pharmacies
In Baghdad the first pharmacies, or drug stores, were established in 754, under the Abbasid Caliphate during the Islamic Golden Age. By the 9th century, these pharmacies were state-regulated. -
1100
Ophthalmology and Optics
The 11th century scientist Ibn al-Haytham, came up with a new explanation for vision through his research on optics and the anatomy of the eye. His work, Book of Optics, would be considered the most important research in the field for hundreds of years. Medieval Arabic physicians were also notable for their advances in the area of ophthalmology, including the invention of the first syringe, which was used to extract a cataract from the eye. -
Jan 1, 1231
Medical Education in Universities
In 1231 Frederick II promulgated a set of laws concerning medical education standards and licensure that were far ahead of his time. Although these laws did not have an immediate effect on medical training and practice, his codification of the importance of premedical education probably reinforced and stabilized an educational method which was developing and which became a cornerstone of the professionalization of physicians. -
Jan 1, 1285
Eyeglasses
According to some sources the invention of the first wearable pair of eyeglasses occurred in the 13th century in Italy. Salvino D'Armate probably invented eyeglasses in around 1285, though various sources suggest an earlier origin. -
1301
Cleaning Wounds
Ancient medical writers believed that during surgery some pus should remain in the wounds, thinking that this would aid in its healing. This idea remained widespread until the 13th-century surgeon Theodoric Borgognoni came up with an antiseptic method, where wounds were to be cleaned and then sutured to promote healing. He even had bandages pre-soaked in wine as a form of disinfectant. -
Period: Jan 1, 1301 to
Renaissance
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1315
Anatomy and Dissection
Many historians have believed that knowledge about anatomy stagnated in the Middle Ages. However, there is a great deal of evidence that medieval physicians were conducting experiments and examining the anatomy of the human body. In the year 1315 the Italian physician Mondino de Luzzi even conducted a public dissection for his students and spectators. The following year he would write Anathomia corporis humani, which is considered the first example of a modern dissection manual. -
1500
Cesarean Sections
While cesarean sections were practiced throughout the Middle Ages, this was done because the mother had died or had no chance of survival – and in some cases where the child was also already dead. But around the year 1500 we have the first written record of having both a mother and baby surviving a cesarean section. -
Microscopic
Anton Van Leeuwenhoek, made one of the earliest microscopes. The detail the revolutionary microscopes could see allowed the English scientist Robert Hooke to observe cells for the first time. In 1661 the Italian scientist Marcello Malpighi identified capillaries which finally showed the link between arteries and veins and proving Harvey's theory for the circulation of blood. -
Syringe
1650: Blaise Pascal invented a syringe not necessarily hypodermic as an application of what is now called Pascal's law. -
Period: to
Industrial Revolution
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Braces
Orthodontics truly began developing in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1728, French dentist Pierre Fauchard, who is often credited with inventing modern orthodontics, published a book entitled "The Surgeon Dentist" on methods of straightening teeth. -
Edward Jenner
Invented first small pox vaccine and first vaccine to be developed. -
Vaccine
First vaccine to be made was in 1796. -
Miner's Safety Lamp
The Davy lamp is a safety lamp for use in flammable atmospheres, invented in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy. It consists of a wick lamp with the flame enclosed inside a mesh screen. -
Stethoscope
In 1816, French physician Rene Laennec invented the first stethoscope using a long, rolled paper tube to funnel the sound from the patient's chest to his ear. -
X-Rays
X-rays were discovered in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen many. Working with a cathode-ray tube in his laboratory, Roentgen observed a fluorescent glow of crystals on a table near his tube. -
Period: to
Modern World
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Blood Types
Karl Landsteiner introduces the system to classify blood into A, B, AB, and O groups -
Band- Aid
The Band-Aid was invented in 1920 by a Johnson & Johnson employee, Earle Dickson in Highland Park, New Jersey for his wife Josephine, who frequently cut and burned herself while cooking. The prototype allowed her to dress her wounds without assistance. -
Cardiac Pacemaker
The first cardiac pacemaker was invented by a Canadian electrical engineer, John Hopps, who was researching the effects of radio frequency heating on hypothermia in 1941.1 He found that if the heart stopped beating when its temperature dropped, that it could be restarted artificially, using mechanical or electrical -
Balloon Embolectomy Catheter
The Balloon Embolectomy Catheter is a great example of simple inventions resulting in a powerful medical breakthrough. This invention pioneered minimally invasive vascular surgery, and extended life saving procedures to ten's of millions of people. Surgeon Thomas J. Fogarty, M.D. -
Dr. Christiaan Barnard
Dr Chris Barnard performs the world's first human heart transplant. On 3 December 1967, South African doctor, Dr Christiaan (Chris) Barnard, performed the world's first human to human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town. -
Period: to
21st Century
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Pill Cam
The PillCam is a capsule that houses a miniature video camera, lights, a transmitter, and batteries. Once a patient swallows the pill and it passes through the digestive tract, it takes photos of the small intestine and sends them to a small recorder affixed to the patient's belt. This technology has helped patients avoid invasive and painful endoscopic diagnostic procedures just by swallowing a pill. -
3D Printed Body Parts ( Organ Printing )
3D printing for producing a cellular construct was first introduced in 2003, when Thomas Boland of Clemson University patented the use of inkjet printing for cells. This process utilized a modified spotting system for the deposition of cells into organized 3D matrices placed on a substrate. -
Lifeport Organ Transporter
The method of storing and transporting organs has traditionally involved placing an organ in a cooler filled with ice—until the LifePort Organ Transporter came into the picture. The product uses mobile machine perfusion to improve transplant outcomes, allowing the use of more organs and lowering the number of organs discarded. The process involves pumping a cold solution through the organ to reduce tissue damage even while the organ is in transport. -
Face Transplants
A face transplant is a medical procedure that replaces a person’s face using the tissues of a dead person. In 2005, Isabelle Dinoire of France was the first person to have partial face transplant while the first full face transplant happened in Spain in 2010. Face transplants have been popularly carried out in the United States, Spain, France, and Turkey. This is applicable for people with birth defects or disfigures caused by burns, disease, and trauma. -
Bionic Eye
Surgeons at Manchester and Moorfields made history in 2009 by delivering the world's first trial of the Argus II bionic eye implants in RP. Professor Stanga also performed the first ever bionic eye implant on a patient with age-related macular degeneration
