The first medical devices were flint-tipped drills and bowstrings used by neolithic dentists in Balochistan around 7000 BC. Having a tooth extracted back then, or pretty much any medical procedure performed, had a grim outcome on the patient most if not all of the time. The lack of aseptic measures and the imminent risk of complications during the different medical procedures performed by the ancestors of physicians and dentists back then greatly increased the mortality risk of the unfortunate patients requiring urgent medical care.

Nine thousand years later, many things have changed. Advances and innovations in all medical and paramedical fields have allowed for the development of medical devices that are safe to use, and as importantly, have the potential to improve the quality of lives of patients, and even save them. This is our Medical Devices section, our homage to the neolithic dentists.