Periferakis A et al. A review of innovation in medicine Technology and Innovation in Life Sciences Page 1 ISSN:XXXX-XXXX Vol. 1, No. 1, 2022 NARRATIVE REVIEW A REVIEW OF INNOVATION IN MEDICINE Argyrios Periferakis 1* , Alexandra Bolocan 1,2 , Daniel Ion 1,2 1 Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania 2 University Emergency Hospital of Bucharest, Romania Corresponding author Argyrios Periferakis argyrios.periferakis0920@stud.umfcd.ro Received: 01 November 2021 Accepted: 15 November 2021 Published: 15 January 2022 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. ABSTRACT Medicine is inextricably linked to the notions of progress and innovation which have enabled medical practitioners to diagnose and treat successfully an ever- increasing number of pathologies. The history of innovation in medicine is marked by the development of novel drugs, of anaesthesia, of antisepsis, and of the application of new surgical methods. From the 19th century onwards, which marks the development of modern medical practices, the numerous wars in the West, contributed to the exponential emergence of new medical techniques. Today, not only new methods of therapy and diagnosis are available, but new multidisciplinary medical fields provide new insights and potential for integrative methods of prevention and therapy. Keywords: medicine, innovation, medical technology, progress INTRODUCTION It is difficult to trace the emergence of medical practises in human history since even in the earliest of human societies, people must have realised the importance of the development of healing practises. The earliest evidence for human disease comes from palaeopathological investigations [1][2][3] and it can be assumed that, accordingly, primitive medical practises must have arisen from the need to treat them. It is evident that early medical practises were related to supernatural beliefs, more or less [2]. Gradually, and with the emergence of organised societies, therapeutic methods became more secular and related to natural resources, as examples from Ancient Egypt (e.g. [4][5][6]) and Greece demonstrate (eg. [7][8][9][10]). Apart from Europe, medicine also evolved in South America, where innovations such as obsidian scalpels have been discovered [11], enabling surgeries such as trephinations and craniotomies [12][13]. Meanwhile, a different form of medicine, innovative in its own way, but somewhat removed from the notions of western medicine, was developed in China [14][15] and Japan [16][17], and later transmitted to Europe [18]. As it can be seen, by the aforementioned, medicine is ever evolving, both as a science and as a healing art. Through the centuries, and via the interaction between different medical beliefs and the accumulated efforts of individuals and research groups alike, medicine has moved forward, in a succession of innovation and application. It is the purpose of this article to illustrate how landmark innovations have transformed irrevocably for the best, the face of medicine, endowing it with a diagnostic and therapeutic potential, which allows for the identification and treatment of an ever-increasing number of pathologies. The focus of this article will be on western medicine, which is more reliant on technology- related innovation, and as such I will not delve into details pertaining on the advances in traditional medicine systems. MATERIAL AND METHODS In order to maintain a concise approach, taking into account the centuries-long history of medical innovation, I will present only such innovations made after the 19th century, which is widely held to signify the emergence of modern medicine and associated medical practises [19],