Intro to Medical Technology

1. Intro to Medical Technology

2. Four Primary Vital Signs in Humans • Blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate, and body temperature are the four primary vital signs that are measured in humans for diagnosis and treatment. • A variety of technologies is used to collect data on these vital signs: • stethoscope to measure heart rate • sphygmomanometer to measure blood pressure • thermometer to measure body temperature • respirometer to measure respiration rate (also known as a spirometer)

3. Heart Rate • The simplest way to listen to the heart is with a stethoscope • “lub”- closing of the semilunar valves, also known as the bicuspid (mitral) and tricuspid valves • “dub”- closing of the pulmonary and aortic valves at the end of a ventricular contraction

4. Blood Pressure • Blood pressure- the pressure of the blood against the walls of the arteries • Blood pressure is determined by several factors: • The pumping action of the heart. • The resistance to the flow of blood in the arterioles. • The elasticity of the walls of the main arteries. • The quantity of blood within the blood vessels. • The blood's viscosity or thickness.

5. Hypertension • excessive blood pressure against the arterial walls. • systolic pressure is greater than 160 mm of mercury, and the diastolic pressure is over 90 mm mercury. • idiopathic hypertension- no known cause • may be an indication that there is something wrong emotionally or physically. • symptoms may include headache, fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, and failing vision. Treatment of hypertension consists of rest and restricting the intake of sodium.

6. Hypotension • when there is not enough pressure against the blood vessels. • A consistently low blood pressure with a systolic pressure of less than 100 mm of mercury is no cause for concern, but extremely low blood pressure can occur for several reasons including shock, Addison's disease (a rare endocrine disorder), and inadequate thyroid function.

7. Body Temperature • measured by a clinical thermometer placed in the mouth or in the rectum. • normal oral temperature is 37° Celsius (C). • Normal temperature varies from person to person and at different times during the day. • Core temperatures found in the chest cavity, the abdominal cavity, and the central nervous system remain constant and are usually higher than 37° C. • The peripheral temperature of the body can be 4° C lower on very cold days.

8. Respiration Rate • ventilation provides a continual supply of oxygen to the lungs and helps to maintain a diffusion gradient for respiratory gases between the alveoli cells of the lungs and the arterial red blood cells. • The volume of gases exchanged during breathing varies according to the physiological needs of the body. • measured by the use of a respirometer, also called a spirometer.

9. The total adult lung volume varies between 4 and 6 litres. • vital capacity is less than this because of the residual volume of air remaining in the lungs after expiration. • tidal volume can be used to calculate pulmonary ventilation, which is the amount of air exchanged with the environment per minute. • During exercise, breathing rate, tidal volume, and pulmonary ventilation increases.