Medical ultrasound
A contrast medium for medical ultrasonography is a formulation of encapsulated gaseous microbubbles to increase echogenicity of blood, discovered by Dr Raymond Gramiak in 1968 and named contrast-enhanced ultrasound. This contrast medical imaging modality is clinically used throughout the world, in particular for echocardiography in the United States and for ultrasound radiology in Europe and Asia.
Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital
French physician René Laennec invented the stethoscope in 1816 while he was working at the Hôpital Necker. Previously, doctors placed their heads directly on their patient's chest and listened for any irregular sounds to aid in diagnosis. But when a large young woman came to the hospital, he realized that this method would be less effective given her size. Instead, he used a tightly rolled up piece of paper to press against the patient's chest, which made the heartbeat much clearer than ever before. Further experimentation yielded Laennec's famous hollow wooden tube, the forerunner of today's stethoscopes. His invention's ability to magnify the internal sounds of the body advanced the medical practice of auscultation, and proved beneficial to the Hôpital Necker, which had a high fatality rate for Phthisis pulmonalis. This was because Laennec discovered with his stethoscope that patients who developed the disease first displayed a particular irregularity how their voices were manifested within their bodies, thus allowing patients to be diagnosed earlier.