Argumentative Essay On Biomedical Technology

It is of a common belief that life has no monetary value and is instead priceless, yet many people contradict this belief when it comes to biomedical technology. Biomedical technology, the product of the medical field joining with the fields of engineering and science, is one of the fastest growing consumers of tax dollars. Although biomedical technology has been around for ages, it did not start to grow so exponentially until the post World War II era. Soon after WWII, biomedical technology research began to skyrocket and the discoveries it made were ground breaking. However, in recent years many people have become concerned with the financial strain the field of biomedical technology is placing on the economy. Although biomedical technology
and the research associated with it draw on the economy, the benefits it offers, such as new devices that enable those with disabilities to live a more normal life, improved procedures and equipment that offer better survival rates for those in need of operation, and new technologies that have carried over into other fields, greatly outweigh the economic costs. Biomedical research is responsible for some of the most life altering technologies people have come to know, such as prosthetics, hearing aids, and motorized wheelchairs. Not only is biomedical research responsible for these technologies, it is also responsible for possible life saving new treatments says Bhaven N. Sampat, an associate professor at Columbia's School of health: “ New treatments for many cancers and for infections like Hepatitis C have the potential to increase life expectancy and quality of life for affect patients” (Sampat). Both cancer and Hepatitis C are potentially fatal diseases, however through use of new biomedical technologies and discoveries scientists are slowly fighting off the diseases and offering those affected a chance at a life of normality instead of a life of someone debilitated by a disease. A study published by NewsRx Health and Science, arguably the world's largest producer of health news, further affirms Dr.Sampats claims. The article discusses how a plethora of paramount discoveries in the last few decades, including a better understanding of genomics, systems biology, and various other biomedical sciences, have the potential to create more technologies with larger effects for solicited populations (New Technique). Biomedical research only started to really take off after WWII in the 40’s and already only seven decades later scientists and critics agree that the discoveries made can and have already had a large effect on groups of people in need. Similar to how technology and techniques created by biomedical research help people lead better and more normal lives, it has also greatly increased the survival rate of patients requiring different procedures as well as reduced the risks involved with such procedures. Melissa Abromovitz, author of Amazing Feats of Biological Engineering, talks about how robotics in surgery can and have greatly reduced the risks involved with surgeries: “The robot’s ‘hands’ have a high degree of dexterity, allowing surgeons the ability to operate in very tight spaces in the body that would otherwise only be accessible through open (long incision) surgery” (Abromovitz 21). Abromovitz continues to describe that not only is it safer but also leaves less of a footprint on the patient “Compared to open surgery (traditional surgery with incisions), robotic and minimally invasive surgery results in smaller incisions resulting in less pain and scarring” (Abromovitz 23). The robotics Abromovitz mentions that are used in complex, risky surgeries would never have been discovered if it were not for research in the biomedical field. Without the robotics that are now being used in surgeries and operations the level of risk involved with them would grow to what it was before which could possibly mean there would be more casualties as result of complications in the operating room. However, these complications can now be avoided thanks to technology developed by researchers and engineers in the biomedical technology field. By reducing the factor of risk, robotics and other technologies have increased the success rate of medical officials exponentially. Biomedical technology is a broad field, in fact it is the end result of the merging of several fields, which is why it comes as no surprise that some of the products and discoveries made within the field of biomedical technology also relate to other fields and have uses within them as well.
For example, Sampat describes some of the better known products of biomedical research that are now used in multiple different fields. Some of the discoveries he talks about include the scanning electron microscope, the computer, and the Cohen-Boyer Recombinant DNA technique (Sampat). Biomedical research helped to create some of the most important pieces of technology we have to do, like the computer which is today almost a necessity by most standards in any work environment. With that in mind it is simple for one to conclude that researchers working in the biomedical technology field have put the money to good use in that the products that come from their studies help everyone in medical and non medical ways. Likewise, NewsRx Health and Science further supports the notion that products produced by biomedical research are used universally throughout other fields of study and work: “ [Biomedical researchers] developed and evaluated the new replacement for Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs) and produced the now widely used military First Strike Ration” (New Technique). Biomedical engineers and researchers may intend on solving an issue within their own field, however they solution they design is generally applicable to an issue faced by others in a completely different field, such as the military. Biomedical technology has been the focus of much criticism lately because of the large amount of money the research has been consuming, though many critics fail to realize that the discoveries made by biomedical researchers can be applied to many other fields and have uses in a plethora of other real world
situations.
Despite life changing and life saving advancements, the field of biomedical technology is under heavy criticism by those who fail to see what the field has to offer. Researchers in the field of biomedical technology have created new devices and techniques that have changed the lives of people who were previously forced to suffer possibly fatal and debilitating diseases with no relief. They have produced equipment and practices that reduce risk involved with surgeries as well as the footprint left by surgeries, helping to reduce the number of fatalities in the operating room due to error. Finally biomedical research has created new technologies that have successfully carried over to other fields of work and study. The economic cost of biomedical technologies and the research involved with it is greatly out weighed by what would be lost if funding for biomedical research would be lost or reduced too significantly.