Back to Course

Aussie Culture & History

0% Complete
0/0 Steps
  1. Module 6 - Dust Storms
  2. Module 7 - The Hills Hoist Clothesline
  3. Module 8 - Australian Seals
  4. Module 9 - The Australian Frontier Wars
  5. Module 10 - The Bombing of Darwin
  6. Module 11 - The Dingo
  7. Module 12 - Australian Flies
  8. Module 13 - The Blue-Ringed Octopus
  9. Module 14 - Bush Fires
  10. Module 15 - Feral Cats
  11. Module 16 - Shark Attacks in Australia
  12. Module 17 - The History of Australian Money
  13. Module 18 - Australia's Worst-Ever Cyclone
  14. Module 19 - Mining in Australia
  15. Module 20 - The Snowy Hydro Scheme
  16. Module 21 - The Port Arthur Massacre
  17. Module 22 - Cane Toads in Australia
  18. Module 23 - Oysters in Australia
  19. Module 24 - The Dreamtime
  20. Module 25 - The Bathurst Races
  21. Module 26 - Gambling in Australia
  22. Module 27 - The Tasmanian Tiger
  23. Module 28 - Australian Medical Inventions
  24. Module 29 - Australian Climate & Weather
  25. Module 30 - Coffee in Australia
  26. Module 31 - Migration & the Gold Rush
  27. Module 32 - Australian Bats
  28. Module 33 - Convict Life
  29. Module 34 - Banjo Paterson
  30. Module 35 - The Aussie Ute
  31. Module 36 - Akubra & the Slouch Hat
  32. Module 37 - Surf Lifesaving
  33. Module 38 - Bees in Australia
  34. Module 39 - The Kokoda Trail Campaign
  35. Module 40 - The Sydney-to-Hobart Yacht Race
  36. Module 41 - Sir Douglas Mawson
    1 Topic
  37. Module 42 - The Burke & Wills Expedition
  38. Module 43 - Push Gangs in Australia
  39. Module 44 - Australian Rodeos
  40. Module 45 - History of Australian Pies
  41. Module 46 - Australian Coffee Culture
  42. Module 47 - John Gould
  43. Uluru (a.k.a Ayre's Rock)
  44. The Emu Wars
  45. Bush Medicine
  46. Australia's Worst Introduced Species
  47. Deadly Brain-Shrinking Fungus
  48. Surfing History and Australia
  49. Bushfires & Climate Change
  50. Climate Change & Australia's Future
  51. Pemulwuy
  52. Bushrangers
  53. Mapping Australia
  54. Capital & Corporal Punishment in Australia
Lesson 23 of 54
In Progress

Module 28 – Australian Medical Inventions

Peter April 16, 2019


Transcript of Module 28 – Australian Medical Inventions

So, today’s Aussie fact. I decided to look up medical inventions (1) from Australia. So, I thought, I know that there’s a few medical inventions that were created in Australia. So, I thought I would do a search, I’d list them, I’d mention them, and I would discuss each of them for you, guys. So, I’ve got six here. Okay.

And if you want to read a more in-depth (2) article about these inventions and a couple of other ones that were also listed, go to ScienceAlert.com. Okay. It’ll be in the transcript if you want the link to read this article. Okay. Let’s go.

So, number one: Medical application of penicillin (3). So, the Australian researcher Howard Florey worked with a team in the UK to purify (4) penicillin from a special strain (5) of mould (6). This is how it was originally done. And he later showed it could fight bacterial infection in humans. The antibiotic (7) changed modern medicine forever, although obviously, we’re going to probably have problems in the near future because antibiotics are less and less effective these days.

Number two: disease-diagnosing nano-patches (8). Disease-diagnosing nano-patches. This is still a relatively new invention, but these nano-patches have the potential to change the way we diagnose (9) disease in the future. They were developed by researchers at the University of Queensland, and the patches are covered in tiny microscopic (10) needles (11) that can quickly and painlessly (12) detect disease-carrying proteins in the bloodstream (13).

How crazy’s that (14)? And it means that you don’t need a blood test (15). So, because these patches have access to the human bloodstream, obviously, with those little needles, you don’t have to get blood tests. So, as someone who really hates blood tests, I’m looking forward to (16) these becoming more predominantly (17) used.

Number three: the bionic (18) ear. I know! I didn’t realise this until I read this too. The bionic ear. One of our best-known (19) exports is the cochlear implant. Both my grandparents have one of these. And the cochlear implant was created by Graeme Clark, a researcher at the University of Melbourne. The device (20) has helped more than 250,000 people with profound hearing loss to hear again. So, how crazy is that? The cochlear implant.

Number four: spray-on-skin (21). Now, I remember this one being in the news. Spray-on-skin has saved the lives of tens of thousands of burn victims (22) around the world and was invented by a woman named Fiona Wood from the University of Western Australia. The invention works by taking a small patch of a patient’s (23) skin, then growing it in the lab (24) so that it can be sprayed (25) back on to the person’s skin, where they’ve been burnt, over their wounds (26) and create a protective barrier (27). Really cool!

So, number five: the ultrasound scanner (28). I didn’t realise this one was ours too. Every expectant mum (29) around the world when they go to the hospital would be more than familiar with the ultrasound scanner, but what people might not know is that the initial (30) discovery that ultrasounds could bounce off (31) soft tissue (32) was made by the CSIRO, and in 1976 it was commercialised (33) by an Australian company called Ausonics.

Number six, the very last one, guys: electronic pacemakers. Another one that blew my mind. The first pacemaker was made impulsively (34) back in 1926, at Sydney’s Crown Street Women’s Hospital to help save a newborn patient suffering (35) from heart problems. The device was used to stimulate the baby’s heartbeat (36) with electric pulses (37) and was created by medical doctor Mark Lidwill, but he was so concerned about the ethical implications (38) of his invention that he refused recognition (39) and patents (40) despite his invention saving hundreds of thousands of lives around the world.



Vocab Glossary:

  1. Inventions – devices or ideas created by someone.
  2. In-depth – comprehensive and thorough.
  3. Penicillin – an antibiotic produced naturally by certain blue moulds, now usually prepared synthetically.
  4. To purify – to remove contaminants from something.
  5. Strain – a natural or cultured variety of a microorganism with distinct form, biochemistry, or virulence.
  6. Mould – a fungus that grows in the form of multicellular filaments called hyphae.
  7. Antibiotic – a medicine that inhibits the growth of or destroys microorganisms.
  8. Disease-diagnosing nano-patches – small patches designed to detect disease in the body.
  9. Diagnose – to identify the nature of an illness or other problem by examining symptoms.
  10. Microscopic – so small as to be visible only with a microscope.
  11. Needles – the pointed hollow end of a hypodermic syringe.
  12. Painlessly – without causing pain.
  13. Bloodstream – the blood circulating through the body.
  14. How crazy’s that – How impressive or surprising is that?
  15. A blood test – a laboratory analysis performed on a patient’s blood.
  16. I’m looking forward to – anticipating something excitedly.
  17. Predominantly – mainly, for the most part.
  18. Bionic – having or denoting an artificial, typically electromechanical, body part or parts.
  19. Best-known – most famous or well-known.
  20. Device – a thing made for a particular purpose, especially a mechanical or electronic piece of equipment.
  21. Spray-on-skin – skin that is sprayed onto something.
  22. Burn victims – people who have suffered burns to their body.
  23. A patient – someone being treated by a doctor.
  24. The lab – short for laboratory, where experiments or treatments are done.
  25. Sprayed – applied liquid in the form of tiny drops.
  26. Wounds – injuries to living tissue, typically where the skin is cut or broken.
  27. A protective barrier – a physical layer placed over something to protect it.
  28. Ultrasound scanner – a device used to examine an internal bodily structure by the use of ultrasonic waves, often used to diagnose abnormalities.
  29. Expectant mum – a pregnant woman.
  30. Initial – occurring at the beginning.
  31. Bounce off – rebound from a surface.
  32. Soft tissue – tissue in the body that isn’t hard, such as fat, ligaments, or skin.
  33. Commercialised – organised or structured in a way to make a profit.
  34. Impulsively – done without forethought, on impulse.
  35. Suffering – experiencing pain, distress, or hardship.
  36. Heartbeat – the pulsation of the heart.
  37. Electric pulses – short bursts of electric current used to stimulate muscles or tissues.
  38. Ethical implications – conclusions about the morality or ethics of a situation or invention, although they may not be explicitly stated.
  39. Recognition – the action of being acknowledged or praised for something.
  40. Patents – government authority or licenses that give the inventor the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling their invention for a set period.