Week 4 | Medicine+Technology+Art

      If someone says, “there is a relationship between art and medicine,” many people probably feel strange. At first glance, it seems that there is nothing in common between art and medicine. However, through this week’s lecture and resources, I could develop different perspectives; now I think that it is not appropriate to consider medicine as just a part of science because medicine is the discipline where understanding patients and their cultures is inevitable; that is, in medicine health care providers always take medical histories including social and family histories and then diagnose their diseases not only based on objective measures but also subjective measures considering their cultures; Hippocrates, ancient Greek physician, even tasted patients’ urine, smelled the feces, and took social histories of patients. Considering these, it looks more reasonable to think medicine as a discipline which has similarities with art; in art, when we see art works, we not only assess art works based on objective paintings but also assess art works considering thoughts behind art works. 

Hippocrates analyzed not only factors directly related to human bodies but also weather, geography, races, cultures, and even laws and customs.

Leonardo da Vinci said “The painter should not ignore the anatomy”
(Anatomical drawings by Leonardo da Vinci)

      Long time ago when medical knowledge was limited, people who took the role of treating sick people were Shamans, delivering their medical knowledge through murals; during ancient times, there was no strict boundaries between art, religion, and medicine. It is well known that Leonardo Da Vinci, a leading artist during the Renaissance, dissected  cadaver and left anatomical drawings of human body; he also said that the reason why he studied human bodies was to paint and carve human bodies better. Probably because he knew and understood human bodies well, his paintings and carvings look real and many people feel that his works look like real human beings even. That is, there is a strong relationship between art and medicine. 

Virtual patient simulations are possible by iPad app(Medical Avatar)

      Nowadays, through tremendous advances in technology, there have been many applications which combine both art, technology, and medicine; for example, Medical Avatar is one of those applications where it records not only the past and present status of the patient but also predict future status of the patient based on the data it has; in addition, it can also produce 3-dimensional view of the patient, giving us more accurate analysis of the patient’s conditions. Lastly, one of the most remembered things among this week’s lecture and resources was the story mentioned by Virgil Wong, who is the cofounder and CEO of Avatar during his TED talk; when he told his mom when she became ill, regretting the fact that he did not listen to his parents, who asked him to be a doctor, his mom was so proud of him and then told him, “Medicine helps us live longer lives, but art is about why we live.” 

REFERENCES

"Body Interact." Medical Avatar. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Casini, Silvia. “Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations Between Science and Arts.” n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

"Leonardo da Vinci and Dissection." Art | Crime Archive. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. 

Tyson, Peter. "The Hippocratic Oath Today." PBS. PBS, 27 Mar. 2001. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. 

"Virgil’s TED Talk: The Medical Avatar." Virgil Wong. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. 

"WHOLEDUDE – WHOLE PLANET." WHOLEDUDE WHOLE PLANET. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.