“Necessity is the mother of invention”
Technological innovations in medical science have benefited us in many ways like it saves the lives of millions around the world, prevents the spreading of diseases, diagnosis incurable diseases, enables to take better care of patients. The invention of medical devices and health care applications has changed the lives of people all around the globe.
Consistent innovation in technology in the healthcare industry enables physicians with better ways to cure the patients and it has improved the quality of care given to patients.
Let’s find out some of the greatest inventions in health technology and how they are positively impacting the lives of people:
1. Treat Mental Illness: Electrical Engineering
The human brain works as an electrical machine. New ways are being created to treat, cure, and prevent brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury. BRAIN initiative, scientists and engineers have developed technologies to discover and catalog the unique electrical properties of brain cells and to begin to reveal how they work together to generate sensations and movements.
This knowledge has helped advance new adaptable electrical brain-stimulation devices to treat movement disorders. There will be soon ultrasonic technology that may allow physicians to release medications into specific areas of the brain, ultimately reducing the number of side effects experienced by patients, such as sleepiness and weight gain.
2. Active Bionic Prosthesis:
Active Bionic prosthesis has been designed to help individuals that have had a serious injury, which causes them to lose their any body part permanently. This technique helps that person that nothing had happened to him. It helps them to have their missing body part back.
If the endings of the nerve can be redirected to a working muscle group, then while a person thinks “to kick the ball,” and the brain will send out the signals to the nerves that should communicate with the leg. Patients who are using this medical invention can do adjustments to their “wearable robotics” with smartphones and devices.
3. iKnife:
The intelligent knife (iKnife) was developed by Zoltan Takats of Imperial College London.
It is best to do breast surgery worldwide. It can detect the cancer tissues accurately whether to cut the tissue or not. The knife works on the concept of rapid heating of effective tissue by electrical current and gives a minimum cut which minimizes blood loss. The affected tissue vaporizes and creates smoke and it is analyzed through a spectrometer that detects the chemicals released through affected tissues.
It has shortened the time of surgery. There will be no need for multiple surgeries.
4. Molecular breast imaging:
Molecular breast imaging is a type of functional imaging. This means that the pictures it creates show differences in the activity of the tissue. Tissue that contains cells that are rapidly growing and dividing, such as cancer cells, appears brighter than less active tissue. Molecular breast imaging is an alternative to mammography. MBI is more effective to detect tumors present in dense tissue.
5. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI):
functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI.) This is used to observe brain structures and determine which areas of the brain “activate” (consume more oxygen) during various cognitive tasks. It is used to advance the understanding of brain organization and offers a potential new standard for assessing neurological status and neurosurgical risk. It is the advanced form of MRI.
A strong magnetic field takes real-time photos of the brain’s activity. While being scanned, patients will be asked to perform simple tasks, such as reading, thinking or just moving a body part.
6. Stem cell preservation:
Stem cells from 10 different sources, including Umbilical Cord, Cord Blood, Amniotic Sac, Amniotic Fluid & Placenta are collected and preserved. These cells are special cells with the ability to transform into any tissue or organ in the body. A Baby’s preserved stem cells may provide numerous benefits to the baby, its siblings, and the family. It can cure around 80 life-threatening diseases. The preservation of cells for so many years is an incredible innovation in itself.
7. Electronic Health Records (EHR):
The use of electronic health records (EHR) in healthcare made a great difference in the traditional way of check-ups. Now hospitals, physicians and doctors and medical institutions can quickly and securely access patient information, update, and search, share it, and enable to diagnose them more effectively. This process is time-saving as well as effective in the case of serious patients. The physician can easily share the history of the patient with expert physicians across the world to consult for the case study of an exceptional case.
8. Nanotechnology:
Nanotechnology allows researchers to build new tools that are actually smaller than the tissues or cells and allows them to attack the cancer cells at the cellular and genetic levels. This technology not only lets the practitioner at earlier stages to stop cancer but enables them to stop it before it develops. And physician will be able to design a unique treatment for an individual’s own medical and genetic profile. Based on computer chip technology, diagnostic devices such as Nanoarrays are more sensitive and accurate than current techniques. Because of their size, multiple tests can be done by using one device instead of many. Near-infrared light will be applied to kill the tumor cells. This technology can also be used for targeted drug delivery.
9. Ultrasound scan/Ultrasonography:
The main device of the ultrasound system is a device called a transducer, which uses an array of piezoelectric crystals. It vibrates when electrical signals are applied and produce high-frequency sound at a pressure of wave which is called ultrasound. When a transducer directs ultrasound waves into the body they pass right through the skin and into the internal anatomy. As the waves encounter tissues with different characteristics and densities it produces echoes that reflect backs. Returned echoes are converted into an electrical signal and the computer converts the points on the image,
Ultrasound is done to detect many diseases many in functional activities inside the body like to detect if there any stones present in the kidney by doing the usg of the urinary bladder, usg of the uterus, usg of toddler brain’s, usg of liver, gallbladder, pancreases etc.
Type of Ultrasound scan/Ultrasonography:
External ultrasound scan
Internal ultrasound scan
Endoscopy ultrasound scan
10. Health Technology we use at home:
In ancient times, people die of fever because they don’t even know what is a fever? Now the technology has made everyone self-dependent and can keep a check on their health by using home gadgets such as EKG (ECG) to your smartphone, Portable Gluten Tester, Stylish Tracker-Watch Hybrid, Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor, Wireless Smart Glucometer, Brain-Sensing Headband, Compact Air Pollution Monitor, Water Purifier, Germ Eliminating Travel Wand, Pain Relief Device, Remote Cardiac Monitoring System, BioScarf etc.
Now the innovation in Artificial Intelligence bringing various changes in the future. Currently, there are many healthcare mobile apps, and in the future, the IoT (internet of things) will transform the health care sector. How has the Internet Changed Our Lives
I imagine that IoT devices notify and send messages automatically to doctors which way, the doctor is providing monthly health care services for the people or in a village.
Here you can learn more about the Advantages and disadvantages of the internet of things (IoT)
And How can artificial intelligence benefit humans
Digital technologies have changed our lives in many ways, our lives are influenced by modern innovations personally as well as professionally.
The technology was introduced in the health care sector to control the mortality rate, but the research achieved tremendous progress, and now extends up to improvement in the quality of life. Regular innovation finds out the medicines for incurable diseases and cured them.
Read More: Importance of innovation in business
But the problem that our health innovators have to solve is to make these technologies and services accessible to common people. Commonly to access high-class health treatment, it’s important that to be rich. Rich and VIPs are treated or have accessibility to these technologies due to their richness. But it’s far away from the common people.
Yes, technologies have changed and improved the diseases instruments but at the same time, it’s out of reach or too costly for common men. So it’s important for health care organizations to bring change through the use of technologies in the life of common people. Only then you can say it’s a good chance.