The Ophthalmological Instruments of Al-Halabi Fills in a Gap in the Biomedical Engineering History

Abstract

Al-Halabi is an intriguing ophthalmologist who invented many surgical instruments for the treatment of various eye diseases. The illustrations of such instruments in his invaluable book “Kitab al-Kafi fi al-kuhl” reflect his willingness to teach. Moreover, he included in his book a magnificent illustration of the anatomical structure of the eye. The book reflects al-Halabi’s medical practice, teaching, and shows a number of advanced medical techniques and tools. His invaluable comments reflect his deep experimental observations in the field of ophthalmology. This article provides proof that al-Halabi is one of our early biomedical engineers from more than 800 years ago. Al-Halabi represents a ring in the chain of biomedical engineering history. His surgical instruments represent the biomechanics field. The biomedical engineering students should know al-Halabi for his numerous contributions in the surgical instruments field.