Technology and the Changing World of Medicine

Each and every day there are a large number of innovations that are revolutionizing healthcare. Face it, when it comes to technology and medicine, that is a winning combination. Numerous new solutions and innovations are on the market already and all of them have made a dramatic impact on the healthcare industry. 

Applications like single cell genomics make a difference with remarkable new technologies that allow specialists to research and make progress with congestive heart failure, medication compliance, diabetes, and even more. Here's a quick look at some of the other areas being targeted by researchers.

Heart Failure

One of the issues that are getting attention during the evolution of medicine is heart failure. This is one of the most costly and common diagnoses and has a mortality rate akin to that of cancer. 

New technology to combat the medical problem comes in the form of three different types of sensors - a watch, a necklace, or a wristband. These are used in testing. A diagnosis with one of these tools gives both doctors and patients continuous data regarding the functionality of the heart.

3D Printing

Today, medical researchers are looking at the potential of tech like 3D printing in regard to medicine. As an example, the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Los Angeles is using 3D printers to duplicate problematic areas in patients in the form of multidimensional models. Once that's been done, surgeons can then handle those models to simulate various possible surgical replicas prior to the actual surgery. Additionally, this tech can be used to reproduce organs or bones in the human body. Because of this, 3D printing is also being used in the field of prosthetics.

Accelerated Experimentation

If you haven't heard of chimpanzee adenovirus yet, you haven't been listening. The outbreak of Ebola showed the world that medical experimentation and research that are expedited is possible. Because the WHO worried that a global outbreak could have devastating effects, research efforts for a vaccine have increased. Scientists began using methods that are more advanced, such as chimp adenovirus. This is closely related to the human version of the virus that causes infections in the upper respiratory tract.

Mobile Apps

These days, there seems to be a mobile app for everything. This even holds true in the field of healthcare. Patients and doctors are continuously discovering innovative ways to utilize this technology to monitor their personal health. Today, things like monitoring your heart rate, researching a variety of treatment options, counting calories, and even tracking your daily sleep patterns are accomplished with ease either on your phone or even on a watch.

Remote Monitoring

A very practical innovation that has come about in more recent years is the technology for remote monitoring. These systems can be utilized by patients right in their own homes and this can reduce both the financial costs and the time that are associated with recurring doctor visits. Small devices are used that have been designed to monitor specific health issues. Doctors then analyze the data from the device remotely while not needing to have the patient come down to their office or the hospital. 

Communication

Finally, we all know that the time a doctor has is limited. It's quite important that we have the ability to communicate with them through electronic devices. New tech developments have been focused on this and are striving to improve the connection between doctors and their patients. 

As you can clearly see, the world of medicine is ever-evolving. With the new tech advances, this evolution is making things easier, not just for patients and doctors, but for all mankind.