This volume contains the Proceedings of a Conference on Scientific Aids
in Hospital Diagnosis held at Oxford in April 1975. The Conference,
organised on inter-disciplinary lines, was the fourth to be organised by
the U. K. Liaison Committee for Sciences allied to Medicine and Biology
(SAMB). The subject matter is divided into six sections: Investiga-
tions in Pathology, Radiation Diagnostics, New Diagnostic Tech- niques
in Special Departments, Clinical Measurements in Wards, Coordination and
Communication of Results, and finally Ergonomic Contributions to Medical
Diagnosis. Session IV may be found of particular interest as it puts the
point of view of the nurses who have to operate so many of the new
machines and pieces of equipment, often under stressful conditions. We
were fortunate in having as our Guest Speaker, Sir George Godber, Former
Chief Medical Officer to the Department of Health and Social Security.
Sir George's career has spanned the time during which very many
scientific technqiues have been in- troduced into medicine and few
people could be better qualified to give an overall picture of the
present situation.