Meditsiinifüüsika ja biomeditsiinitehnika läbi sajandite Tartu Ülikolis

Medical physics and biomedical engineering through the centuries in the University of Tartu

Abstract

 The first X-ray equipment was built and X-rays were produced in
the University of Tartu (UT) in early 1896, just months after W. C.
Röntgen’s discovery. Quite soon the invention was taken into use in
diagnostic medicine. It was the beginning of the development and
application of medical physics in Estonian hospitals. In the 1920s
X-ray equipment was built for clinical use in the Tartu University
Hospital.
The first special curriculum for medical physics and biomedical
engineering was launched in UT in 1994. The joint curriculum
pilot project with Tallinn Technical University lasted from
2009 to 2012, while the joint curriculum has been implemented
since 2013. 54 Bachelor’s level, 42 Master’s level and 3 Doctoral
students have graduated from the University of Tartu in the
field of medical physics and biomedical engineering since 1994.
One of the most famous inventions of UT scientists in the field of
biomechanics is the myometer invented by Arved Vain. The myometric
method and device have been applied in Estonia and many other
countries, including in preparing astronauts before space flights and
in their rehabilitation after landing.