History of Medical

Technology Profession
GINA M. ZAMORA, MSMT
• At the end of this unit, students can:
1. Discuss the history of medical technology on a global context.
 
2. Discuss the history of medical technology in the United States.
 
3. Discuss the history of medical technology in the Philippines.
 
4. Identify important personalities that played a significant role in
the progress of medical technology profession.
 
5. Discuss the historical milestones in Medical Technology
• Four stages in the historical development of Medical Technology:
1. 460 BC
2. Apothecaries Act of 1815 - Baron Karl Von Humbeldt
3. modern onset of the Medical technology in the United States in
1871
4. establishment of clinical laboratory and medical technology
course in the Philippines.
• Hippocrates, regarded as the founder of scientific medicine
-determined the correlation between anatomical and chemical
laboratory findings and the causes of diseases.
- adopted the triad of regimen in treating diseases and infection
with the use of drugs, surgery, and bloodletting.

• Vivian Herrick determined that intestinal parasitic infection

was caused by Ascaris lumbricoides and the Taenia species.
o This was published in a book by Ebers Papyrus , which describes
the treatment of hookworm disease and infection transmissible in
humans.
• Anenzoa - an Arabian physician, also proved that the etiological
agent of skin diseases, such as scabies, were parasites.

• Medieval period (1098-1438) – Urinalysis

• 14th century, Anna Fagelson - confirmed the beginnings of

medical technology when she correlated the cause of death of
Alexander Gillani, a laboratory worker in the University of
Bologna, to laboratory-acquired infection.

• 17th century - Anton Van Leeuwenhoek invented the microscope

- describe the appearance of red blood cells, and differentiated
bacteria based on their shape.
MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY IN THE 18TH
CENTURY
• medical practitioners in North Africa and Southern Europe
received classical medical education.

• four basic humors:blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile

• Rudolf Virchow (between 1821 – 1902) - recognized as the father

of microscopic pathology.
- first scientist/physician of the time who emphasized the
study of the manifestation of diseases and infections, which
are visible at the cellular level by means of a microscope.
• Dr. Calvin Ellis- first to utilize the microscope in examining
specimens at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

• Dr. William Occam - used laboratory findings as preliminary

evidence in diagnosing and evaluating a patient's disease.

• Apothecaries Act of 1815- initiated by Baron Karl Von

Humbeldt who formally used laboratory findings in the treatment
of diseases and infection.
- intervened and paved the way for an uphaul of medical
treatment based on laboratory findings.
- The Act introduced compulsory apprenticeship and formal
qualifications for apothecaries (in modern terms, general
practitioners) under the license of the Society of Apothecaries.
HISTORY OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES
In the United States, medical education underwent much needed
reforms.
• Dr. William H. Welch
• In1885, Dr. Welch became the first professor of Pathology at John Hopkins
University
• *The first clinical laboratory was opened in 1896 at the John Hopkins Hospital
by Dr. William Osler.
• * A clinical laboratory was also opened at the University of Pennsylvania in
1896. (William Pepper Laboratory)
• Dr. James C. Todd
• Wrote “A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis”
• Retitled “Clinical Diagnosis by Laboratory Methods” in the 19th edition
• 1900: Census
• 100 technicians, all male were employed in the United states
• 1915
• The state legislature of Pennsylvania enacted a law requiring all hospitals and
institutions to have an adequate laboratory and to employ a full-time
laboratory technician
• 1920
• Increased to 3,500
• 1922
• 3035 hospitals had clinical laboratories
• World War I
• Was an important factor in the growth of the clinical laboratory and produced
a great demand for technicians
• University of Minnesota
• Where one of the first schools for training workers was established
• A course bulletin was entitled “Courses in Medical Technology for Clinical and
Laboratory Technicians” (1922)
• 1921
• The Denver Society of Clinical Pathologists was organized
• 1923
• University of Minnesota was the first to offer level program
• World War II
• The use of blood increased and the “close system” of blood
collection was widely adopted
• Laboratory medicine certainly moved into an era of
sophistication
HISTORY OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY IN THE PHILIPPINES

• Medical Technology in the Philippines post-World War II

• the first clinical laboratory in the Philippines was built and

established on Quiricada Street, Sta. Cruz Manila (where the public
health laboratory is presently located) by the 26th Medical
Laboratory of the 6th US Army.

• February 1944, it provided one year of training to high school

graduates to work as laboratory technicians.

• June 1945, the staff of the 6th US Army left the facility after
endorsing the newly established Clinical Laboratory to the National
Department of Health.
• Dr. Pio de Roda- preserved the remains of the laboratory with the
help of Dr. Mariano Icasiano, the first City Health Officer of
Manila.

• October 1, 1945, the preserved laboratory was formally re-

established by Dr. Pio de Roda with the help of Dr. Prudencio Sta.
Ana.

• 1954 - Dr. Pio de Roda instructed Dr. Sta. Ana to prepare a syllabus
for training medical technicians. Together with Dr. Tirso Briones,
they conducted a six month training course with certification.
• Manila Sanitarium Hospital and its sister company the Philippine
Union College offered a course in medical technology.
• Dr. Willa Hilgert Hedrick, founder of medical technology
education in the Philippines, Dr. Reuben Manalaysay; president of
the Philippine Union College, Rev. Warren; president of the North
Philippine Mission of the Seventh Day Adventist and director of the
Bureau of Education, established the first Medical Technology
School in the Philippines.

• Dr. Hedrick, with the help of Mrs. Antoinette McKelvey,

prepared the course curriculum and established the first complete
laboratory in microbiology, parasitology, and histopathology at the
Manila Sanitarium Hospital.

• five-year course leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in

medical technology was approved by the Bureau of Education
• Manila Sanitarium Hospital and the Philippine Union College-
Offered Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology

• Mr. Jesse Umali- first student to graduate from the Philippine

Union College

• University of Santo Tomas (1957) - offered an elective course in

pharmacy leading to a bachelor of science in medical technology
under the leadership of Dr. Antonio Gabriel and Dr. Gustavo Reyes.

• 1960–61, the Bureau of Education officially approved the first three

years as a three-year academic course and the fourth year as an
internship program.
• Other Schools that first offered Medical Technology:
Centro Escolar University, Far Eastern University

• Postgraduate course ( Master of Science in Medical Technology

/MSMT) is now offered at the University of Santo Tomas and
Philippine Women's University.
HISTORICAL MILESTONES IN MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

• from a single-lens microscope to dissecting and scanning electron

microscopes.

• Highly technical instruments such as the auto analyzer in clinical

chemistry or the flow cytometer in histopathology

• automation coupled with the use of computer graphics, recorders,

and even calculators.

• Laboratory Information System (LIS). Almost all clinical laboratories,

especially those in the tertiary category, use the LIS to release
laboratory results.
• Medical technology uses genetic engineering methods, especially
in cases of detecting genetic disorders such as hemophilia

• Current research is moving toward the molecular diagnosis of

diseases and infections.

• The ultimate goal of medical technology is its commitment to

focus on more discoveries. This goal can be attained through the
efforts extended by science and technology.
Inventions and Innovations in the Field of Medical
Laboratory
1660 – Anton Van Leeuwenhoek
- Father of Microbiology
- Known for his work on the improvement of the
microscope
1796 – Edward Jenner
- Discovered Vaccination to establish immunity to small pox
- impact of contribution: Immunology
1880 – Marie Francois Xavier Bichat
- Identified organs by the types of tissues
- Imapct of contribution: Histology
1835 – Agostino Bassi
- Produced disease in worms by injection of organic material
- impact of contribution: beginning of bacteriology
1857 – Louis Pasteur
- Successfully produced immunity to rabies
1866 – Gregor Mendel
- Enunciated his law of inherited characteristics from
studies on plants
1870 – Joseph Lister
- Demonstrated that surgical infections are caused by
airborn organisms.
1877 – Robert Koch
- Presented the first pictures of bacilli (anthrax) and
tubercle bacilli
1886 – Ellie Metchnokoff
- Described phagocytes in blood and their role in fighting
infection
1886 – Ernst Von Bergmann
- Introduced steam sterilization in surgery
1902 – Karl Landsteiner
- Distinguished blood groups through the development
of the ABO blood group system
1906 – August von Wassermann
- Developed immunologic tests for syphilis
1906 – Howard Ricketts
- Discovered microorganisms whose range lies between
bacteria and virus called rickettsiae
1929 – Hans Fischer
- Worked out the structure of hemoglobin
1954 – Jonas Salk
- developed poliomyelitis vaccine
1973 – James Westgard
- Introduced the Westgard Rules for Quality Control in the
Clinical Laboratory
1980 – Baruch Samuel Blumberg
- Introduced the Hepatitis B vaccine
1985 – Kary Mullis
- Developed the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
1992 – Andre van Steirteghem
- introduced the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF)
1998 – James Thomson
- Derived the first human Stem Cell line
FUTURE TRENDS

Latest technologies include robotic devices, keyhole surgery

procedures and genetic engineering created from knowledge about
DNA molecules
Thank You!