Thursday 16 January 2014

5 Medical Technologies That Will Change Healthcare Forever

No one would ever suggest that health care is something that ever remains static. Most people do agree with the assessment that the world of health care is one commonly associated with innovation and research. The one error many people do commit is they assume that the innovations are only in the world of medicine and pharmaceuticals. This assessment is not accurate one. There are other areas of the health care field that are consistently innovating. One such area would be the one related to medical technology.

Medical technology has grown enormously in recent years. Among the more interesting areas in which it has grown has been that of medical records. Today, many doctors are able to keep track of electronic medical records and do so in an extremely effective manner. The doctors are not even the main beneficiaries of these innovations. Of course, it would be the patients who benefit the most thanks to the better systems created through electronic record databases.

Other unique technological innovations and inventions are emerging on the health care front. For those interested in what these innovations may be, here are the top five.

#1. 3-D Printing. 3-D Printing might seem like a very odd inclusion on a list of revolutionary medical technology devices. Its presence should not be looked at in a dismissive manner since there are quite a number of practical uses for this type of printing. For example, 95% of all modern hearing aids are created through the process of 3-D Printing. Research shows that partial bioorgan tissue printing might be a very real possibility in the future. One of the great benefits of this or any other type of medical technology is great innovations are built on past successes.

#2. Brain-Computer Interfaces. Brain-Computer Interfaces might very well bring forth the long sought after solution to a number of hurdles paraplegics frequently have to face. The original, earlier versions of this technology were designed to use brain signals to help move a cursor across a computer screen. Today, there is work being performed on these systems to connect them to movement in robotic limbs or even parallelized limbs. Certainly, it is going to take a great deal of time for technology such as this to be perfected but the time it takes make be far less than initially anticipated.

#3. Robotics. Robotics are not exactly anything that can be considered completely new. Robotic technology has been around for decades and they continue to increase in sophistication and effectiveness. Robotics are going to be used in the health care field in scores of different ways. Robots are going to be used in service sectors as they taken over many automated tasks. On a higher level, robotic exoskeletons may be employed in the treatment of patients who are not able to walk on their own accord. The truth is robots can likely be used in a host of different ways and their use in the health care world will likely continue to expand.

#4. Point-of-Care Diagnostics. Diagnosing patients is not always easy and there are times when the process, however necessary, can be an invasive one. No physician wants a patient to suffer from any invasive treatments, but this can be unavoidable. With the advent of new Point-of-Care Diagnostics, there might be a new hand-held medical technology in the form of electronic devices capable of performing a simply diagnosis of all manner of problems. The device might not even be needed in a hospital. Those who have such a device their home could engage it to give a basic diagnoses right from their residence.

#5. Artificial Intelligence. The notion of self-aware technology is still many years away in the future, but early prototypes of machines and technology capable of offering reliable diagnostic tools to doctors based on information stored in their mechanical brain are proving to be quite helpful.

The world of medical technology is always going to be an evolving and innovating one. This is certainly a good thing. These unique innovations are what contribute to the overall incredible improvements people will experience in the health care they are offered.

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