Technological advancement has proved to be a miracle in medicine and improved millions of people globally. The developments of medical equipment and surgical methods have enhanced life expectancy and made people health conscious. People can also track their health conditions by themselves. The introduction of modern healthcare technology provides better insight into the patient’s condition, and the doctors can explore countless possibilities in curing them to ensure their wellness. The quality of life has also improved in the 21st century with these medical inventions. The medical industry can not be static; instead, it has to constantly update itself to cope with the new challenges and cater to people’s needs. The promising new modern technology in medical field aims to revolutionize the medical industry.
Some of the most advanced technologies in this sphere include:
Advanced Telemedicine
Telemedicine has witnessed immense development to cope with the global pandemic situation in 2020. Around 25% of healthcare organizations have Telehealth programs. An analytics firm named Forrester stated that according to their research, more than a billion people availed themselves of virtual care using Telemedicine facilities. Earlier, there were some hindrances in the operation and regulation of Telehealth systems. However, removing the limitations improved the level of productivity, and now healthcare organizations possess a vast repertoire of data for evaluation and further development of Telehealth services.
Innovative methods of drug development
Recently the development of new drugs for dealing with health hazards and effective vaccines have indicated the massive improvement in the drug development industry. For instance, amidst the global pandemic caused by Covid-19, the production of safe vaccines within a few months proved to be one of the most significant technological accomplishments in the world.
It ensures the safety of numerous lives. Again, the core reason for this success lies in the cooperative endeavour of the top pharmaceutical companies. The process included several medical tests and trials and finally created a breakthrough.
Apart from this, the drug development industry ushers in an innovative approach to producing life-saving drugs. It has revolutionized modern health technology and the companies’ strategy in developing new medicines and reframing their operation techniques and regulations.
The collaborative mission of the different pharmaceutical giants can guarantee breakthroughs in the future. At present, the joint efforts of the top-performing companies in the drug industry and their sharing of data have brought to light, new achievements in improving the production of antiviral drugs. In addition, the new guidelines for virtual trials of these drugs have been formulated by the FDA. These further steps would open up several avenues to explore in developing new drugs.
Data-Driven Healthcare
The big data market of the Healthcare sector is expected to soar higher within a few years. With the increase in health-related data collection, there has been immense growth in the application of the same. It significantly contributes to the improvement of treatment methods for curing patients. However, it also exposed the most significant challenge in this sphere: the absence of interoperability or data exchange between healthcare organizations.
Google Cloud introduced its readiness program, which is designed to enable healthcare providers to use and process their data effectively. The main purpose of the program is to make it easier for health organizations to access their data and process it in a secure and reliable way.
This endeavour aims to assist payers, healthcare providers, and other healthcare organizations in abiding by the government’s recent regulations about interoperability. Thus it allows the program participants to access security tools, templates of new data, blueprints, and guidelines for implementing the interoperability. Therefore, the optimum utilization of big data is possible through the cooperation of different healthcare organizations.
Nano medicine
Nanotechnology has immense potential in revolutionizing medicine by working on the level of atoms, molecules, or even supramolecules. It is applied in diagnosis, imaging, sensing, and delivery using medical devices with nanotechnology.
According to the researchers, the scope of this technology is vast and can be explored on varied levels. They are trying to devise new strategies for applying it to individual cells. The progress has been extraordinary in applying this modern technology in medicine, especially in developing drugs for curing cancer. The trial sessions have highlighted the success of using nanoparticles of gold to treat cancerous tumor. Nanotechnology is also being used for treating viruses and bacteria.
5G-Enabled devices
The drug development industries require a state-of-the-art infrastructure for supporting high-speed internet connection to implement the plan of ushering innovation in medical science with advanced technology like Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, etc. Without reliable connectivity and super-speed internet, the technology shall not explore its potentials to the fullest. Herein lies the significance of 5G.
The healthcare system will witness an enhancement in its efficiency, and its efficiency will rise manifold using a real-time connection. It will facilitate broadening the accessibility to Telemedicine, and numerous people will benefit from these 5G-enabled devices. The connected devices shall have a better ability to record and analyze data.
5G guarantees zero latency, and thus the sensors and devices shall be able to collect and transmit data accurately. It will also assist in monitoring the patients and therefore ensure better results in the patient’s recovery. It is expected that the modern healthcare system shall soon witness the benefits of 5G enabled devices and thereby make the healthcare system more participatory and personalized.
Tricorders
Earlier tricorders were perceived to be the products of far-fetched imagination where the palm-sized devices would monitor the body’s vital signs. However, the advancement of technology has turned this imagination into reality. It has a promising scope of not only checking and monitoring vitals but also conducting basic diagnostics.
A tricorder has changed the perception of utilizing modern medical technology. The patient can use this device at home by himself as the device is easy to handle. The patient does not need any medical training for operating the device. The Tricorder is replete with a technologically advanced engine for diagnosing and recording the patient’s data. The machine can run an algorithm and match the data collected with the symptoms of 34 health issues like diabetes, stroke, pneumonia, etc. and help the patient to acquire information about his health.
Smart Inhalers
Inhalers are essential for the treatment of patients who have asthma. The proper use of the inhalers immensely contributes to their well-being and is effective on the majority of the patients. However, the improper use of inhalers has a detrimental impact on health. Unfortunately, 94% of the patients fail to use it accurately.
Herein lies the importance of Bluetooth-enabled smart inhalers that allow asthma patients to handle their situation. A smart device has been attached to the inhaler. It records the date and time of each dosage of medicine. It also records if the dosage was taken correctly or not. Thus it helps the patient to monitor the process. Furthermore, the patient can access the data using the smartphone and therefore be aware of his health issue and track it properly. According to the clinical trials, smart inhalers also guarantee less use of reliever medicine.
Bluetooth-Enabled Pacemakers
The pacemakers are complex devices that send electrical impulses to the heart muscles and help to evade heart arrhythmia. Although its technology is complicated, countless people rely on pacemakers in today’s world. If it were possible to monitor the functioning of this device, the patients would have been better aware of their health and take steps immediately in case of an aberration. But it is not possible in the case of the pacemakers.
However, scientists are working to develop pacemakers that are replete with Bluetooth technology, and such a pacemaker can be linked with the smartphone app to access the readings. It will enable the patient and the doctor to better monitor and analyze the health condition based on the data. This device has been designed by Medtronic, which is one leading medical technology company. The researchers are still working on bettering the model and its utilities and features.
A Lab On a Chip
It has been designed by the researchers of Stanford University to make the system of processing the samples faster and efficient. They have developed the device ‘lab on a chip‘ which includes the CRISPR enzyme Cas12. The device is even smaller than a credit card, and it is replete with several networks of fine channels that can fetch the result fast.
In the global pandemic situation, it has helped to detect the presence of the coronavirus. But, according to the researchers, this chip can help to detect other forms of infections apart from coronavirus. The use of the CRISPR enzyme for other genetic markers would help in this process.
Health Wearables
Diabetes patients can use wearable continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) to keep track of the body’s blood sugar level. Thus without even conducting periodic glucose testing, the data is acquired, and the patient can track his health condition. Therefore the patient can change his eating habits and lifestyle according to the data collected.
Conclusion
Thus the advancement in technology has improved the medical sector. It ensures the improvement in the well-being of the patients and improves life expectancy. Furthermore, scientific development has opened new avenues for exploration. Therefore, the researchers are hopeful of making scientific breakthroughs to develop medicine and enhance the effectiveness of the methods of treatment.