9 - Laennec's Cylinder

What does it mean when a computer can make better medical decisions than a human? The progress in large language models, and in particular the popularity of ChatGPT, has brought these questions to the forefront in 2023, but we've been discussing this for over 50 years. In this ep ...  Show more

What happens when a patient far from surgical care – say, at the bottom of the Pacific ocean on a submarine, or at a research base in Antarctica in the middle of the winter – develops a surgical abdomen? This dilemma was the impetus to build the first truly effective clinical dec ...  Show more

The stethoscope. It’s iconic. You’re playing Pictionary and you pull the “doctor” card? Easy - sketch a stethoscope. Need a last-minute Halloween costume? Easy - throw a stethoscope around your shoulders. Google image search “doctor” and you can count the number of stethoscope ...

In 1816, French physician René Laennec invented an instrument that allowed doctors to listen to human hearts and lungs. That device — a stethoscope — eventually evolved from a simple wooden tube to a lightweight two-earpiece version most doctors today wear on their necks. Learn m ...  Show more

This is the first of a three part series exploring the history of laparoscopy, starting with the very earliest attempts to peer inside the human body, and leading up to the current day, with an eye to the future. This podcast will look at the evolution of endoscopy, including som ...  Show more

Are doctors killing or stroking out thousands of people a year for nothing? Here are some answers. This episode features audio from The Risks of Heart Stents, Angioplasty Heart Stent Risks vs. Benefits, and Do Heart Stent Procedures Work for Angina Chest Pain?. Visit the video pa ...  Show more