Each natural science seems to have one's own working field, but this does not mean at all that they are independent, on the contrary they have been developed by stimulating and helping each other. While the original aim of medicine is to cure suffering patients, it has to include several branches of pure sciences such as physiology, biochemistry and so forth in the course of its development. Physicians have to precisely examine the status of the patients before they apply their techniques. It can be compared with meteorology as an applied science of physics. Besides, clinical medicine has a character like a pure science, because there are still many problems to be elucidated in clinical pathology. Engineering is a science which researchs and develops things indispensable for human livings and has now developed in its field medical engineering as a new branch, including a special area of medical electronics.
In Japan since 1955 we have had a joint committee of the research workers of medicine and that of electronics. At about the same time, the International Federation of Medical Electronics was founded and since then International meetings have been held at Paris (1958), Paris (1959), London (1960) and New York (1961). New ideas and techniques in medical electronics were presented there. Besides electrophysiological instruments, many new apparatus were introduced to investigate physiological and pathological functions by transducing various biophysical and biochemical changes to electrical informations. Moreover several surgical instruments by use of ultrasonic wave etc. were developed. Field of medical sciences has been enlarged by the application of electronic computers. Data processing instruments are expected to be introduced into clinical use in near future.
For further development in this science, it is absolutely necessary to have researchers working in the two fields, medicine and engineering, united to cooperate for the common aim.
