Just recently I had a short stint in hospital for a routine procedure and I must say that it was quite an experience, apart from the inevitable pain and inconvenience to normal routine. What impressed me most was the overwhelming presence of electronic equipment which is used at every stage of treatment. Of course, as soon as you are admitted, all your records are brought up on the hospital’s computer system. Then, as happened with me, you are connected up to an ECG machine to check the state of your heart and blood samples taken to check a variety of conditions.

When you are wheeled into the operating room, you are confronted by an incredible array of electronic equipment. I then had a general anaesthetic so I was in no condition to appreciate all the high technology or ask any questions. Suffice to say that the electronic equipment is involved at every step, from the continual administering of drugs via a cannula (large needle!), to the monitoring of vital signs to the operation itself which was effectively done by remote control, via an endoscope and video camera. Before the operation I facetiously asked whether I could get a videotape of the procedure after it was finished. I was surprised to learn that indeed this was possible although it was not normally done to provide a keepsake for the patient – more as a record for the surgeon, to be used in subsequent care.

Afterwards, in the recovery ward, you become aware of more electronic equipment. There is a machine to control the administration of drugs, saline solution or whatever and the inevitable machine used to monitor pulse, blood pressure and blood oxygen levels. Later you are wheeled into your room, accompanied by a drip machine and whatever plumbing as may be needed during the rest of your hospital stay. The drip machine is your constant companion and it gurgles away, day and night. And if you move in such a way as to cut off the flow, it will immediately begin chiming to let you and any nurse know that it demands attention.

Right through your stay your pulse, blood pressure, blood oxygen levels and temperature will be regularly checked by a nurse. You are hooked up, the cuff on your upper arm inflates automatically and then deflates in steps as it records your diastolic and systolic pressure levels – incredible! Of course many people have one of these at home these days and so they are no longer a novelty but I still find the whole process a technical marvel.

After a few days I was released to go home and thereby left all the beeping machines to get a good night’s sleep. But my overwhelming conclusion was how reliant we have become on electronics technology and how critical it would be if any of this equipment failed and was undetected after even a short time. At home, of course, if any of your electronic equipment fails, it can be annoying and inconvenient. But if a piece of electronic equipment used in a hospital fails it can be more than inconvenient, it could be immediately life threatening.

My other conclusion was that ultimately, doctors and nurses are superb technicians, not only in their understanding of an immensely complicated system, the human body, but also in their understanding and application of electronics technology to many aspects of medicine.