Digital transformation enters the healthcare domain, giving rise to a new branch of science called Medical Technology (MedTech).
Exoskeletons are equipped with systems capable of reading and reacting to the brain’s electrical impulses – generated by thoughts, emotions, or feelings. 3D-printed drugs, digital tattoos, and RFID implants are intended for recreational purposes. With these examples of emerging medical technologies, we are only scratching the surface, with vast applications and rapid healthcare and medical technology improvements in plain sight. In the proceedings, we will look at the latest finalized, developed, and applied methods in medical technology.
Education With Medical Technology – Digital Reality Aids Medical Practitioners
Technologies like Virtual and Augmented Reality are opening new worlds for the human senses. Even though the difference between these technologies might seem arbitrary at first, it greatly determines how they could be used in healthcare. Still, AR allows practitioners to see the natural world and projects digital information onto the existing environment. Virtual Reality shuts out everything external and provides an entire simulation. Hence, AR can be applied in surgery, projecting potentially life-saving information into a surgeon’s eyesight and using AR lenses during surgeries. VR can also be used in psychiatry to treat phobias efficiently.
One example is the Microsoft HoloLens, which opens up radically new ways for medical education, giving the ability to project the human body in full size in front of medical students. The organs, veins, or bones are precisely visible in 3D, and future medical professionals will be capable of studying and analyzing their shape, remembering their characteristics vividly, compared to the conventional study by the book. Some universities have already oriented some of their activities in introducing the new medical technology Case Western with its new medical campus in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic in 2019, where students study anatomy from virtual Reality rather than cadavers.
Brain-Computer Interfaces in Aid and Hope for the Paralyzed or Disabled
Research in the area of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) has scaled and geared up recently. Dr. Gary Marcus, at New York University and Dr. Christof Koch, at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, stated for The Medical Futurist that where laser technology for eye surgery was decades ago, brain implants are today and with high expectations for significant advancements in medical technology domain in the upcoming years. In order to present the picture, let’s imagine a retinal chip enabling perfect eyesight or the ability to see in the dark, or a cochlear implant granting the ability of perfect hearing, or even more, a memory chip endowing the brain with almost limitless memory. Can you type into a computer with thoughts only or control an entire smart house by sending out the necessary brainwaves?
Though this seems like a galactic leap away, neuro-prosthetics are already on the market: anybody can get cochlear implants and retinal implants, the latter approved by the FDA in 2013. Moreover, people with Parkinson’s disease can use implants that send electrical pulses deep into the brain, activating some of the pathways involved in movement control. Brain implant treatments for individuals who are paralyzed due to spinal cord injury or other neurological damage are less common but still being utilized. A chip inserted into the brain that can read off electrical signals translated by a computer to restore some movement and communication. In combination with an exoskeleton, miracles indeed can happen: a 30-year-old paralyzed man, Thibault, was able to move all four of his limbs with the help of a ‘mind-reading’ exoskeleton.
Might We All End Up Being Recreational Cyborgs?
Real-life cyborgs are already among us, which is highly convincing that these creatures will not only populate the terrain of sci-fi movies but will be everywhere around us in the very near future. Eventually, a new generation of hipsters who implant devices and technologies in their bodies to look cooler will start the new ‘cyborg-craze’. Physical disadvantages such as impaired eyesight or hearing will become things of the past. It is even possible with these technologies to gain superhuman powers, from having the eyesight of an eagle to possessing the hearing of a bat as advances in future medical technologies emerge. Hearing aids based on Artificial intelligence will give you the ability to become multilingual. While within the group of cyborgs, patients wearing implanted defibrillators or pacemakers can also be added, more cases are expected to consent to the implantation of a particular device without any medical consequences.
3D Printed Drugs With Attractive Shapes for Kids
Chocolate bars, weapons, and even entire houses can be 3D printed today. Meanwhile, the biotechnology industry is working on printing out living cells, so 3D-printed drugs won’t be surprising, as a logical sequel is already happening. The FDA approved an epilepsy drug called Spritam, made by 3D printers in August 2015. The powdered drug is printed out layer by layer to make it dissolve faster than conventional pills. The UK’s Daily Mail reported in June 2015 that scientists from the University College of London are experimenting with 3D printing drugs in odd shapes, such as octopuses or dinosaurs, to make them more attractive for kids.
The scientists, Professor Abdul Basit and Professor Simon Gaisford, established FabRx in 2014, seeing huge potential in 3D printing for medicine and pharma. They expect to commercialize 3D-printed drugs within the years to come.
Health Insurance Gamification Is Not a Game
Qualcomm and United Healthcare announced that they integrated Samsung and Garmin wearables into their national wellness program in November 2017. Meeting walking goals enables eligible plan participants to earn more than $1,000 per year. For sure, this was just the beginning of a beautiful friendship between health insurance companies, wearable manufacturers, and the principle of gamification. The latter indicates deep and joyful incentives, which could motivate and slightly nudge people into the desired behavior – such as a healthy way of life in the case of health insurance companies.
What is more arguable is the question of how far health insurance companies should push such gamified solutions. Will they gather data on finished or unfinished daily fitness goals to increase premiums for high-risk patients or to reduce their business risks by alerting patients with bad lifestyle choices? What will happen to the patient’s private data? Shall we prepare for Dr. Big Brother? Will the relationships between employers, employees, and health insurance companies be altered in the spirit of easily obtainable personal fitness and health data, and how and to what extent? These ethical questions will become increasingly important as more and more corporations offer their employees health insurance packages with gamified tracking options, and it is crucial to look for fair responses as soon as possible.
New Technologies Bring Along New Illnesses?
With the continuous advancement of technology, there is always a potential for the emergence of previously unknown illnesses and conditions. Excessive usage of virtual reality devices, gaming consoles, and smartphones may result in the emergence of novel health issues. For example, individuals who engage in intense virtual battles using VR equipment could be diagnosed with v-PTSD, experiencing symptoms akin to those of real soldiers who have been in combat. Additionally, video-game epilepsy is well-documented; in fact, it was subjected even to trials leading to the conclusion that video games, in particular, were more likely to provoke seizures in subjects with photosensitive epilepsy than standard television programs, even if the same screen is used for both.
Furthermore, researchers have talked about Wii-related injuries lately, stemming from the name of Nintendo’s wireless computer console, Wii, which brought a more physically-oriented gaming experience. Looking down at your cell phone, tablet, or other wireless devices for extended periods, often referred to as ‘text neck’, is anticipated to have long-term effects on future generations at a genetic and evolutionary level. These new conditions will indeed require ICD codes to be assigned in the near future.
Food Shortages Issues Resolved With Artificial Food
Lab-grown meat, synthetic tea, artificial sandwiches, milk, nutrients, and vitamins in a protein shake are all part of the innovative solutions that are already here, promising to reduce the dependency on natural resources while still providing food for millions of people. Sci-fi movies like The Matrix, Star Trek, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy represented a glimpse of the future of eating, and it’s exciting to see these concepts becoming a reality.
For instance, researchers of the Cultured Beef Project removed muscle cells from a cow’s shoulder and fed the cells with a nutrient mix in a Petri dish. Then, they grew back up into muscle tissue again. One can derive tons of meat from a few starter cells. Mosa Meat, the Netherlands-based company, introduced the first hamburger in London in SuperMeat in Tel Aviv and the Modern Agriculture Foundation (MAF) in Ramat Gan joined forces to mass-produce cultured meat, working on cultivating chicken meat in their laboratories.
Another example is Silicon Valley’s Finless Foods, which announced the production of real fish meat from stem cells to create more sustainable seafood. JUST Inc., another San Francisco-based company formerly known as the controversial food enterprise Hampton Creek, is developing cultured foie gras, synthetic chorizo, and artificial nuggets. Its researchers are also working on cultured meat and promised to introduce their version at the end of this year. A Japanese company, Integriculture Inc., may rival JUST in the field of cultured foie gras. CEO Yuki Hanyu says their lab-grown product can hit the shelves within the following years.
Voice Biomarkers as a Diagnostic and Medical Support Tool
Voice-based solutions have proved to be very handy in healthcare, researchers and medical professionals have declared in the last years – both in diagnostics as well as in supporting daily tasks, such as administration. Scientifically labeled as vocal biomarkers, the characteristics of patients’ voices can reveal a lot about their health and help detect severe diseases and health risks. For instance, Beyond Verbal, an Israeli company, copes with emotion analytics and provides voice analysis software. According to their statement, its algorithms were successful to help detect the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD) in a group of patients. A Boston-based company, Sonde Health Inc., has created another initiative to develop a voice-based technology platform for monitoring and diagnosing mental and physical medical conditions. It is expected a lot more solutions will come in the future. The same is true for the never-ending fight against administration.
With the introduction of voice-based technologies, medical professionals will be provided with specific support. Voice-to-text technologies, based on artificial intelligence, promise to turn the tables on the necessity of bureaucracy in the doctors’ office: the physician and the patient can speak while a voice assistant listens, registers, and puts down the interpreted text into the relevant columns in the EHRs.
Revolution in Medical Technology and Empowerment of Patients
Rapid technological advancement has resulted in a shift toward digital health in medicine in the last couple of decades. This shift is seen as a cultural shift triggered by technologies providing digital and objective data access to caregivers and patients. This will lead to an equal level of partnership between physicians and patients with shared decision-making and the democratization of care. From the patient’s perspective, the result is the evolution towards the ‘e-patient’ – where the ‘e’ stands for evaluated, electronic, enabled, equipped, empowered, engaged, ‘expert’ etc.
A person who is actively responsible for their health and shaping their future in a mutually beneficial partnership with the caregiver would become the ‘e-patient’. It is enabled and facilitated through wearables, health sensors, and any other innovations that make patients the point of care. Although it doesn’t sound like an advancement in medical technology, it would surely mean advancement in health responsibility for the patient.
Digital Tattoos for a More Invisible Healthcare
As a result of the developments in 3D printing and circuit printing technologies, as well as improvements in flexible electronics and materials, applying so-called digital tattoos or electronic tattoos on the skin for some days or even weeks is becoming possible. Some researchers used gold nanorods, graphene, or various polymers with rubber backing to apply the tattoo on the skin without irritation. Specific experts believe that these skin patches or tattoos are only the beginning, and in the future, other skin techniques such as henna, tanning, and makeup will also be tested.
These flexible, waterproof materials impervious to stretching and twisting, coupled with tiny electrodes, are able to register and transmit information about the wearer to its smartphone or other connected devices. They would give healthcare experts valuable data to monitor and diagnose critical health conditions such as heart arrhythmia, heart activities of premature babies, sleep disorders, and brain activities non-invasively. Moreover, tracking vital signs 24 hours a day, without the need for a charger, is especially suited for following patients with high stroke risks.
Although these technologies are not yet available, specific promising solutions and concepts in the lab are waiting for the future to reveal their possibilities – especially in healthcare.
Conclusion
In conclusion, advancing medical technology is transforming healthcare, from brain-computer interfaces to 3D-printed drugs and digital health tools. While these innovations promise better patient care, it’s essential to address ethical challenges and ensure they benefit both patients and providers.\