Medical equipment is designed to aid in the diagnosis, monitoring or treatment of medical conditions. These devices are usually designed with rigorous safety standards.

See also the main articles: implant, artificial limbs, corrective lenses, cochlear implants, dental implants, prosthetics (ocular, facial)

There are several basic types:

• Diagnostic equipment includes medical imaging machines, used to aid in diagnosis. Examples are ultrasound and MRI machines, PET and CT scanners, and x-ray machines.
• Therapeutic equipment includes infusion pumps, medical lasers and LASIK surgical machines.
• Life support equipment is used maintain a patient's bodily function. These include medical ventilators, heart-lung machines, ECMO, and dialysis machines.
• Medical monitors allow medical staff to measure a patient's medical state. Monitors may measure patient vital signs and other parameters including ECG, EEG, blood pressure, and dissolved gases in the blood.
• Medical laboratory equipment automates or help analyze blood, urine and genes.
• Diagnostic Medical Equipment may also be used in the home for certain purposes, e.g. for the control of diabetes mellitus

A biomedical equipment technician (BMET) is a vital component of the healthcare delivery system. Employed primarily by hospitals, BMETs are the people responsible for maintaining a facility's medical equipment.

Inventions

• C. 1280, spectacles
• 1540, artificial limb, by Ambroise Pare
• 1630, obstetric forceps, by Peter Chamberlen
• 1714, mercury thermometer, by Gabriel Fahrenheit
• 1775, bifocal lenses, by Benjamin Franklin
• 1792, ambulance, by Dominique Jean Larrey
• 1796, vaccination, by Edward Jenner
• 1816, stethoscope, by René Laennec
• 1817, dental plate, by Anthony Plantson
• 1853, hypodermic syringe, by Alexander Wood
• 1887, contact lens, by Adolf Fick
• 1895, X-ray, by Wilhelm Röntgen
• 1903, electrocardiograph, by Willem Einthoven
• 1956, endoscope, by Basil Hirschowitz
• 1957, artificial pacemaker, by C. Walton Lillehei and Earl Bakken
• 1958, ultrasound scan, by Ian Donald
• 1973, CT (CAT) scan, by Godfrey Hounsfield and Allan Cormack
• 1982, artificial heart, by Robert Jarvik

Source: Running Press Cyclopedia, second edition

See also

• Durable medical equipment
• Eucomed
• Home medical equipment
• Medical devices
• Surgical instruments
• Medical test

Notable medical equipment companies

• Boston Scientific
• Beckman Coulter
• Johnson & Johnson
• Medtronic
• Mindray
• Spacelabs Healthcare
• St.Jude Medical
• Philips
• GE Healthcare
• Siemens AG