I can think of some inventions that might not occur to others if you haven’t been in the health care field. There are entire classes of surgical materials, from meshes to joint replacements, that did not exist when I was born. Personally, I am a beneficiary of all these.
When I was three, I had my tonsils out, and the anesthesia was by drip, drip ether into an ether anesthesia mask very similar to the 19th-century prototypes. I remember the induction well. Ugh! Today, the surgical environment is ages past that. During my time working in the OR, ether was used occasionally as a cleaning agent. I’d venture a guess that in a modern OR, even that use is gone. The darn stuff is highly inflammable and has numerous side effects.
To this, you can add modern suture materials, instruments, monitoring devices, and drugs. Arguably, inventions and advances in medicine probably directly affect more people than those in many other areas. Think about that next time you use your inhaler, take your allergy medication, or walk on your new knee.
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You have a LOT of good points here. It will keep getting better, I hope.
I love my hip prostheses, all the more because one of them prevented a serious hip fracture last year.
I have a few new things, but unpleasantly inserted 🥸
Ouch!
If I think real hard I can still smell that ether.
It was very distinctive