Sunday, April 28, 2019

MedTech + Art Week 4 Blog

In this week's lecture, Victoria Vesna strengthened my knowledge on the rapid modernization of technology; and how it has allowed us to depict the anatomy of the human body, in a non-invasive way.  As an athlete, MRIs, CT scans, and X-rays have been crucial in diagnosing my several injuries over the years. One specific time I remember was when I was playing tennis and fell on my ankle. I immediately went to the doctor to see what had happened, but they ran no imaging tests and said my ankle was excellent and in perfect condition. It wasn't until three months later when I still had excruciating pain that they decided to run an X-ray test. In result, the image illustrated that I had not one, but three fractures throughout my ankle.
https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/ankle-fractures-broken-ankle/
Without the development of noninvasive imaging programs, there would have been no way to diagnose my severely injured ankle without actually cutting it open. I believe that advancements in medical technology has also created a massive promotion in art. For example, Casini mentions in his medical paper that MRI and imaging scans can be considered almost like a "portrait of an individual." This proves that medicine and art go hand-in-hand while presenting results from imaging scans.
https://dissolve.com/stock-photo/Doctor-using-ray-machine-examine-patient-royalty-free-image/101-D23-21-054
However, I believe there can be a fine line between the correlation of art and medicine. Living in the heart of Los Angeles, plastic surgery is a common thing you see amongst the population. As I learned in Lecture Part 3, Orlan was an artist who endured nine different surgeries to attempt to embody the vision of "beauty" created by renowned painters throughout history. Another example of this is Michael Jackson. He underwent an abundance amount of surgeries in an attempt to make himself "look better." Even though these are examples of art in medicine, I believe that these operations go past the point of art and limit an individual's natural beauty and uniqueness. 
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4816435/ns/health-cosmetic_surgery/t/artists-plastic-surgeries-defy-beauty-standards/
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/celebrity-plastic-surgery-disasters/5/
                                                                          Sources:
Online, UC. “Medicine pt2.” YouTube, YouTube, 21 Apr. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ.

Online, UC. “Medicine pt3.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Apr. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=450&v=FIX-9mXd3Y4.

MutleeIsTheAntiGod. “Orlan - Carnal Art (2001) Documentary.” YouTube, YouTube, 13 Mar. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=no_66MGu0Oo.

Casini, Silvia. “Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations Between Science and Arts.” (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 28 Apr. 2019.

“Ankle Fractures (Broken Ankle) - OrthoInfo - AAOS.” OrthoInfo, orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/ankle-fractures-broken-ankle/.




1 comment:

  1. Hi Taylor,

    This week's material has also allowed me to have a stronger appreciation for technological advancements in the field of medicine. Your personal experience shows just how these technological advancements have proved to be very beneficial to society. However, I really enjoyed reading Casini's paper because I never thought of MRIs in the same light that she had mentioned as being portraits of an individual until fully going over all of this week's material and in the end agreeing with what she wrote in her essay. It is actually interesting because not many people see MRIs having an artistic side to it, but as we start to dig deeper, we can see that each MRI will have an individualistic touch because everyone is different, and therefore, I think that society should think along these lines and appreciate these advancements in medical technology. Overall, great post!

    Best,

    Mariana.

    ReplyDelete