Health check-up at the museum

In its new exhibition “body.check”, Vienna’s Museum of Technology takes a closer look at the latest advances in biomedical engineering. Spectacular exhibits give an insight into the human body, providing an interactive means of exploring the opportunities and limitations of computer technology in the health service.

The use of computer technology has led to many medical innovations over the last 20 years, and medical care would no longer be conceivable today without computer-aided processes and equipment. During its stopover at the Museum of Technology, the travelling exhibition “body.check” from the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum in Paderborn shows the state of the art in biomedical engineering. A third of the exhibits can be tried out and tested. The hands-on stations of the interactive area “From head to foot" have been designed with children in mind, and focus on the brain, the circulatory system, the digestive system and the musculoskeletal system.

The human body as a universal work of art

At the outset, the exhibition puts visitors in the right mood with a virtual journey through the human body. By means of computer-controlled images, an anatomy theatre gives a fascinating insight into the depths of the human body. At the touch of a finger, you can examine body tissues or rotate and open up virtual organs. Thus the human body as a universal work of art lies at the visitor’s beck and call. On the way through the exhibition, you encounter sections devoted to prevention, diagnosis, therapy and rehabilitation.

Fitness for everyday

The initial focus is on a healthy lifestyle in the area "Wellness and Everyday Life", where visitors are actively able to check their own level of fitness. A treadmill, a cycle, a boxing bag and a virtual dancing stage reveal the condition of every visitor.

Operations on the human body

Exhausted, you move on to the area “Diagnosis”, which shows the latest methods of examination, such as computer tomography, ultrasound and the latest forms of endoscopy. The next step after diagnosis is the treatment of an illness. The highlight of the area “Operations on the Human Body” is an operating theatre of the future. Visitors slip into the role of the trainee doctor to remove their own appendix with the aid of an operation simulator, or to insert a cardiac catheter into a coronary artery.

From prosthesis to implant

Highly sophisticated “Aids for the Body” cannot be underestimated for the quality of life of those dependent on them. Thanks to microprocessor controlled prostheses, implants, neurostimulation systems and telemedicine, modern technology is now able to give chronically ill and aged patients some of their independence back again. For example, prosthetic arms in which the nerve impulse is transmitted to the prosthesis by electrodes provide almost natural movement. Visitors are encouraged to try this out for themselves! . 

Patients’ stories

An exhibition of biomedical engineering almost inevitably involves illnesses and the people afflicted by them. In conversations recorded in a special room, the participants of self-help groups explain how they cope with diagnoses, how they benefit from computer-controlled medicine during therapy, and the role their relationship with their doctor still plays despite all these technological advances.

The bottom line of this exhibition is that modern computers are an aid to the physician, but cannot replace him. Even if, in the fully automatic massage chairs which one should not fail to try out before leaving the exhibition, it feels as though you are being massaged by human hands.