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Sensing the Way: Embodied Dimensions of Diagnostic Work

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Ethnographies of Diagnostic Work

Abstract

Diagnostic work in anaesthetic practice relies, in large part, on reading bodily signs. With minimal discussion with the patient, other senses take priority. Yet this process is intensely collaborative: the patient’s body is technologically augmented so as to convey a wealth of digitised information such as heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, carbon dioxide levels, volumes of inspired and expired gases, and Electrocardiogram (ECG) traces. Proliferous though this information may be, it is insufficient for diagnosis.

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© 2010 Dawn Goodwin

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Goodwin, D. (2010). Sensing the Way: Embodied Dimensions of Diagnostic Work. In: BĂ¼scher, M., Goodwin, D., Mesman, J. (eds) Ethnographies of Diagnostic Work. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230296930_5

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