As a gynecologist working in a civic hospital, I understand the value of multi-use instruments. What it means is that an instrument that has multiple uses is far better than one which has a single use. That is owing to paucity of funds to buy instruments. After some time, one gets trained to find other uses for instruments which have actually one prescribed use. At least I learned it over the last 33 years.
'Off label' is a term that is applied to drugs which are approved by an agency like FDA for specific use(s). However scientific studies show that these drugs are useful for other indications too. These other uses are called 'off label' uses, meaning these uses are not listed on the label or product insert of the drug.
I have found an off label use for a computer monitor. It so happened that my Registrar came to my office to inform me about a patient. She had brought along the patient's excretory urogram. Since the office was administrative office and not clinical office, there was no X-ray viewing box there. For those who don't know, let me state that we call a device used for viewing radiographs as X-ray viewing box because a radiograph is conventionally called X-ray. I had two options. Either I could hold the radiograph up towards the fluorescent light on the ceiling and inspect it, or hold it towards the window and view it. The first option meant risk of straining my neck muscles and ligaments. The other option meant having to get up and roll up the window blind. It was then that I thought of using my computer monitor as an X-ray viewing box. I opened a new document in my word processor and zoomed in to dill the entire width of the screen with the document. Now the screen was back lit and white like an X-ray viewing box. I put the radiograph over it and I could read it as well as with an X-ray viewing box.
'Voila' as the French say.
'Off label' is a term that is applied to drugs which are approved by an agency like FDA for specific use(s). However scientific studies show that these drugs are useful for other indications too. These other uses are called 'off label' uses, meaning these uses are not listed on the label or product insert of the drug.
I have found an off label use for a computer monitor. It so happened that my Registrar came to my office to inform me about a patient. She had brought along the patient's excretory urogram. Since the office was administrative office and not clinical office, there was no X-ray viewing box there. For those who don't know, let me state that we call a device used for viewing radiographs as X-ray viewing box because a radiograph is conventionally called X-ray. I had two options. Either I could hold the radiograph up towards the fluorescent light on the ceiling and inspect it, or hold it towards the window and view it. The first option meant risk of straining my neck muscles and ligaments. The other option meant having to get up and roll up the window blind. It was then that I thought of using my computer monitor as an X-ray viewing box. I opened a new document in my word processor and zoomed in to dill the entire width of the screen with the document. Now the screen was back lit and white like an X-ray viewing box. I put the radiograph over it and I could read it as well as with an X-ray viewing box.
'Voila' as the French say.
