• Question: How could you help other people who are about to die , to survive?

    Asked by Kitkat to Matthew on 8 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Matthew Oldfield

      Matthew Oldfield answered on 8 Mar 2016:

      Hi. For me personally, I can’t do it alone! Technology is helping people who would otherwise wouldn’t be alive everyday. If you think about things like dialysis machines, medical imaging like x-rays, cardiac defibrillators, all of them will have been developed by engineers and scientists and doctors.

      The steerable needle that I work on will hopefully help people with brain cancer to survive better. It will do this by delivering drugs more effectively than they are at the moment.

Comments

  • Photo: Dominic

    Dominic commented on :

    It depends on the scenario. My work involves using computer aided design and fabrication technologies such as 3D printing to improve the accuracy of very complex procedures. There have been a good few cases where procedures would have been highly risk if it were not for using technology-based approaches to avoid critical structures in the brain, nervous system and other sensory systems. By liaising with the specialist surgeons, we’ve helped to create designs that reduce improve accuracy, reduce theatre time and improve the aesthetic outcome. It’s difficult to say they have saved lives, but it’s fair to say they have contributed significantly to a better outcome.