Improvement in technology has impacted the world significantly, even in the healthcare area. Due to the increased use of technology, the medical sector also has had a lot of benefits. Technology has helped reduce human errors, tracking data, more accurate diagnoses, etc. Many diseases or disorders can be detected early on or even before birth! Hence the treatment can begin faster, and the recovery rate is improved. Because of all of this, the quality of life has immensely improved, and people are living more than before. Vaccines have also helped in preventing a lot of diseases that were not very easily curable in the past. Here are some technologies which have helped to improve healthcare-
1. mRNA Technology
Vaccines typically use weakened or dead microorganisms to activate an immune response in our bodies. mRNA vaccines use genetically altered molecules that guide your cells to make a harmless protein that belongs to a specific virus. Due to this immune system produces antibodies which are designed to attack the viral protein.
2. Artificial Intelligence
AI is proving to be valuable in detecting disease earlier and confirming an accurate diagnosis faster. For example, the use of AI in breast cancer care enables 30x faster mammography screening with 99% accuracy, reducing the need for unnecessary biopsies. AI is also being used to monitor early-stage heart disease, allowing healthcare providers to detect life-threatening problems at earlier, more treatable stages.
3. 3D Printing
new surgical cutting and drilling templates and prostheses and to create patient-specific replicas of bones, organs and blood vessels. Recent advances in healthcare 3D printing have resulted in lighter, stronger and safer products, shorter lead times, and lower costs
4. Neurotechnology
Neurotechnology is a technology that provides a better understanding of brain or nervous system activity and the effects on brain or nervous system function due to some disease. Neurotechnology may only be used for research purposes such as experimental imaging of the brain to gather information about mental illness or sleep patterns.
5. Next-Generation Sequencing
Next-Generation Sequencing is an analogous sequencing technology that delivers ultra-high outturn, scalability, and speed. The technology determines the order of nucleotides in entire genomes or specific regions of DNA or RNA. NGS has revolutionized life sciences, enabling laboratories to perform a wide variety of applications and study biological systems at a level never seen before.
6. Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that utilizes certain parts of a person’s immune system to fight diseases such as cancer. Immunotherapy has increased the survival of cancer patients. This is usually done by making substances inside the lab which resemble the immune system components in the body that will improve the patient’s immune system and attack cancer cells.
7. Telemedicine
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine or telehealth has become a popular way to consult your doctor. Patients can avoid travelling and save time if their problem is not too serious. It can be helpful for people who have a hard time travelling or elderly people.
8. Biosensors
Biosensors are operated on for disease detection, diagnosis, treatment, patient health monitoring, and human health management. Biosensors have now become the future of heart health. Biosensors can also be used to detect microbes like bacteria, fungi, and viruses. They are used in different departments of healthcare. For example, pregnancy tests are also a biosensor.
9. Virtual Reality
Virtual reality has helped doctors to view the inside of the human body better. A company called Medical Realities is one of the pioneers in using Virtual Reality to provide quality surgical training. They film the actual surgery in 360° 4K video from multiple angles, which is then combined with CGI models of the operated anatomy to provide an immersive and interactive training experience.
10. Crispr
CRISPR, which is Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats is an advanced technology that helps in editing genes. It works by harnessing the natural mechanisms of the immune system of the virus’s invading bacterial cells, which can then “cut” the infected DNA strands. This DNA cut has the power to potentially change the way we treat disease. By altering genes, some of the greatest threats to our health, such as cancer and HIV, could be overcome in a few years.
