1 of 4

Write now Article Tools

The twentieth century saw a remarkable output of lifesaving and enhancing medical advancements and inventions. The following is a summary of the most well known.

PENICILLIN:
Was discovered by bacteriologist Sir Alexander Fleming at London's St. Mary's Hospital in 1928 when he observed colonies of bacterium Staphylococcus aureus being dissolved by blue-green mold. Upon further experimentation he found that a pure culture of the mold produced a substance that killed some disease-causing bacteria. He named this substance penicillin.

ARTIFICIAL HEART:
Dutch-born medical researcher Willem J. Kolff invented the first artificial heart but it was an American doctor Robert Jarvik who in 1982 completed the design of the first permanently-implantable artificial heart- the Jarvik-7 made of Dacron polyester, plastic, and aluminum with an internal power system that ensured it consistently beat at least 100,000 times a day pumping blood through the body. The Jarvik devices were implanted to sustain patients waiting for transplants.

PACEMAKER:
Canadian electrical engineer John Hopps invented the world's first cardiac pacemaker in 1950. His device was too large to be implanted inside of the human body but an improved version was designed by New York medical researcher Wilson Greatbatch in the late 1950's making it implantable and powered by a corrosion-free lithium battery.

WORLD'S FIRST TEST-TUBE BABY:
Working on finding an alternative solution for conception since 1966, Dr. Patrick Steptoe, a gynecologist at Oldham General Hospital, and Dr. Robert Edwards, a physiologist at Cambridge University eventually found a way to successfully fertilize an egg outside a woman's body and performed the in vitro' (in glass) fertilization procedure on Lesley Brown on November 10, 1977 and at 11:47 p.m. on July 25, 1978, the first test tube baby Louise-Joy brown was born.

CPR:
In the late 1950s, Dr. Peter Safar invented cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR with the development of the ABCs (airway, breathing, circulation) of resuscitation, including "mouth-to-mouth" resuscitation.

ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES:
The first oral contraceptive, Enovid, was developed by Polish-born chemist Frank B. Colton in the late 1960s. The synthetic hormone pill prevents ovulation or the release of new eggs in a woman's body thus preventing conception.

RECOGNITION OF TOBACCO USE AS A HEALTH HAZARD:
The 1964 Surgeon General's report on the health risks of smoking prompted changes in social norms and public awareness of the fatal

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about The most famous medical advances of the 20th century?
We want to hear your view. Write now!