For many individuals, it might seem surprising that math is involved in medicine. Believe it or not, math is one of the fundamentals built upon medicine, and it is used almost everywhere. Medicine not only involves studying the human body, but you also must be capable of understanding the rates at which the heart pumps blood, and understanding the different systems in the human body involves understanding even complex mathematics.
Firstly, math is used in medicine for calculating blood flow shown on a monitor. According to researchers at the University Malaysia Sarawak and Swinburne University of Technology, it has been concluded that mathematical modeling has been used to measure the rate of blood flow and predict how much it might go up or down. Two particular researchers created these graphs of blood flow or were able to predict the motion of blood flow using Navier-Stokes equations, which are partial differential equations used to understand the motion of plasma-like fluids, i.e. blood. These equations not only calculate the motion but also calculate the velocity, pressure, viscosity (resistance to flow), and temperature of the blood while it goes in motion. Using these equations, scientists were able to calculate the blood flow through understanding the surface area and volume at which the blood flows through a blood vessel, particularly an artery, and to calculate numerical values, these researchers used the finite difference method, which involved solving differential equations by using derivatives, which is an essential part to Calculus.
Next, another essential way math is applied to medicine is by calculating dosages or the amount of medication required for patients. For example, in the field of anesthesiology, the anesthesiologists need to be able to assess the amount of anesthesia to place into the patient and they also need to properly check the gauge to ensure the amount of medication will make the patient unconscious.
Moreover, many medical assistants need to correctly monitor the gauges to see if the rate at which the medication is flowing into the patient’s body is flowing smoothly. Even in some cases, the idea of rates and proportions are essential in medicine, because for example, when a surgeon or doctor says to push 100 of some form of anesthetic, you need to be able to understand the type of anesthetic it is based on the body and then be able to convert the measuring units to determine how much needs to be pushed into the body. For example, you might need to convert picograms into milligrams or vice versa.
Finally, another usage for math in medicine is monitoring vital signs. For monitoring vital signs, it is essential that you know both the math and the medicine for this step. When checking the monitors, you need to understand the type of rhythms the heart is going through, whether it be systole, diastole, tachycardic, bradycardic, and more. It is also essential you know how to properly count, because, at some points in time, you may need to check various pulses to see if the heart is maintaining a steady beat or identify if a patient is having arrhythmias.
Furthermore, when someone assesses temperature from the monitor, it may be essential for them to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius or vice versa because that would help them better understand a situation if they were taught to understand temperature in a different way.
Overall, mathematics is a critical part of medicine and it continues to become the fundamentals for more technologies as it advances. Math continues to be a part of our daily lives too and is applicable to fields not just in medicine, but also in business, engineering, and other career paths. Math is used in every field of medicine and is critical to understand even the complex ideas of mathematics if becoming a doctor is your dream goal.
Sources
Labadin, J., and Azizi Ahmadi. “Mathematical Modeling of the Arterial Blood Flow.” ResearchGate, Jan. 2006, www.researchgate.net/publication/237450132_Mathematical_Modeling_of_the_Arterial_Blood_Flow
“Navier-Stokes Equations.” NASA, NASA, www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/nseqs.html
Zhou, Pei-Bai. “Finite Difference Method.” SpringerLink, link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-50319-1_3
Beckermedia. “The Importance of Math for Medical Assistants: PCI Health.” PCI, 8 Mar. 2019, www.pcihealth.edu/the-importance-of-math-for-medical-assistants/.