Establishment of electrocardiogram technology created by a transcendent genius
One of the most difficult subjects in university science education is electromagnetism, a branch of physics. Think of it as the study of electricity and magnetism. This field was developed in 19th century Germany, where many Jewish researchers discovered theorems and laws. They were young and had razor sharp minds. Just when you think electromagnetism is difficult, there is a story in medical history where knowledge of electromagnetism was used freely to establish diagnostic methods. That's what I'll be talking about today.
By the way, electricity flows through the human heart. There was a doctor who came up with the idea of diagnosing the heart by picking up electrical signals on the surface of the body and measuring them on a graph. His name was Willem Einthoven, a Dutch doctor. He was good at complex electromagnetism and was well-versed in other science-related subjects. This man is the developer of the electrocardiogram, which allows diagnosis from the electrical signals of the heart.
Einhthoven recorded the waveforms of the heart on a graph, and from the waveforms, he was able to analyze which part of the heart electricity was moving from and to. This used concepts such as linear algebra and vectors, which were advanced mathematics that were being developed at the time. In addition, he used mathematical knowledge called Fourier analysis to analyze the waves, and other knowledge such as differential equations, statistics, and of course the anatomy and physiology of the heart were also required, so the development of electrocardiogram technology required a great deal of basic knowledge of science subjects. However, that only means that a considerable amount of intelligence is required to develop electrocardiogram diagnostic methods. When you actually handle an electrocardiogram, you need a little trick, but anyone can make an accurate diagnosis by reading 1,000 electrocardiograms. It's difficult to develop, but easy to use. You can use a computer even if you don't understand the principles of computers, right? It's the same thing.
Once we understood the normal flow of electrical signals in the heart, it became important to know how it changed from normal during myocardial infarction. So we recorded the electrocardiograms of patients with myocardial infarction, and when the patient died, we performed an autopsy to compare the electrocardiograms to see what was abnormal, and recorded what the electrocardiogram would look like for each abnormality, but this took time. Einhthoven was passionate about this research.
One day, a fire broke out right next to the building where Einhthoven was conducting his experiments, putting his building at risk of spreading, but when firefighters entered Einhthoven's laboratory to guide evacuation, they found him continuing his experiments in the smoke.
"It's dangerous here. Please evacuate immediately," the firefighters told Einhthoven.
"Wait a minute, we're getting to the good part of the experiment now," he said.
Well, this electrocardiogram technology was developed with such passion, and although there are many smart people in the medical world who are doing research, this research is the one that no one can compete with, and research that no one can imitate. In terms of requiring the highest degree of natural intelligence, the electrocardiogram is at the top of the list. Einhthoven won the Nobel Prize in 1924, and in the latter half of his life he was engaged in education as a professor of internal medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. The electrocardiogram he developed has a diagnostic accuracy of 95%, and no other test can provide such an accurate diagnosis. Also, because Einhthoven thoroughly researched every last detail, there is nothing that needs to be corrected even today, when medicine has advanced. There are some smart people in the world.
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