Week 4 Blog: MedTech + Art

This week, we focused on discussing the intersected relationship between the field of medicine/medtech and arts, which is highlighted by their shared nature of creativeness and abundance of pioneers that help push forward and evolve their respective fields. 



One example of such intersection is the concept of design thinking, which stems from the creative process of art making, but has also been more and more widely used in the field of medtech to improve user-friendliness in the medical devices that are been developed. Moreover, there has been a stronger emphasis on the aesthetics of these devices, making them less intimidating and thus easier for the patients to use them.




The influence of arts is not only shown in the improvement of medical devices,  but also the increased effectiveness in patient treatments. Arts therapy, for example, is a well established phychological treatment through which the patients’ emotional and cognitive traumas are relieved. Additionally, the visually aesthetic display of art work in clinics and hospitals has been proven to create a relaxing environment that helps with reducing patients’ stress and sensation of pain, which aids their treatments and recoveries.




I think the reason why art has such a great effect on the improvement of healthcare and medtech is because it is something that is universally shared and appreciated by human beings, making it an ideal carrier for positive emotions within all individuals. With the help of art, there are surely going to be more effective and patient-oriented treatments and products in the field of medtech.



Reference List


1. Weikard, Lara. “Medical Technology and Art Make a Wonderful Match!” Ars Electronica, 21 June 2017, ars.electronica.art/aeblog/en/2017/06/21/medizintechnik-und-kunst/.

2. Mainwaring, Jake. "What is medtech and where will it go next?" Verdict, 26 July 2022, verdict.co.uk/what-is-medtech-and-where-will-it-go-next/.


3. "The Intersection of Art, Medicine, and Technology" University of Rochester, 18 April 2024, rax.rochester.edu/s/1676/21/1col.aspx?sid=1676&gid=2&pgid=10671&cid=16442&ecid=16442&ciid=45696&crid=0.


4. "Formative Evaluation in Medical Device Design" Nectar, nectarpd.com/formative-evaluation-medical-device/.


5. Casini, Silvia, "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts".

Comments

  1. Joyce JinApril 25, 2024 at 5:23 PM

    Hi Tiffany, I loved reading about the art therapy section! I'm currently working at an elementary school and one of the lunchtime activities the school provides is coloring, and after participating in it myself, I noticed how it brought such a calming start to my day! The idea of art therapy in your blog reminded me of this experience and the interconnected processes that take place in our body. This is such a cool example as it provides insight in that when our inner emotions and thoughts can be expressed outwardly, it brings a healing effect.

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  2. Devanti DillardApril 25, 2024 at 9:07 PM

    Hi Tiffany, interesting post! I never really thought about the effect of making medical devices more aesthetically friendlier would have on a user's confidence in utilizing the tools. I think that is an important component to consider, as the development of technology recently has been so focused on practicality, efficiency, and versatility, which generally sacrifices important factors like appearance and other visual qualities. You also bring up an interesting point about how art has a universally shared appreciation from humans, which is why it can have a positive effect on so many people. It is cool to think about how something as simple and widely available as art can make huge contributions to our health.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jenny ZhuangApril 26, 2024 at 11:50 PM

    Hi Tiffany! I really enjoyed your post on the overlap between medtech and art. Your points on how art in clinics can ease stress and help in recovery are spot is so interesting, since I'm very interested in art and find doing artwork calming during stressful times. It's also so interesting to see arts therapy being used to heal emotional traumas --- shows just how powerful art can be beyond just looking nice.

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