Digital technology and the internet are changing our world in more ways than we can count. Let's take a look at four innovations in the healthcare industry that are fueled by our increasingly connected world, as high-tech solutions become more and more accessible to everyone.
Smart Pills
Eventually you may be swallowing “smart pills” that will look out for problems in your intestines. If an issue is found, the pill can release the appropriate medicines to counteract the condition.
These smart pills could make better use of medicine than regular pills, which only deliver a small portion of their medicine to where it needs to go. They could also transmit health information directly to doctors, including whether or not the patient is taking their medicine properly.
Researchers say that they understand most or all of the biological mechanisms required to make smart pills a viable concept. The current challenge is to figure out how to create batteries and circuits that are non-toxic, and won't harm the body if they happen to get stuck.
3-D Printing
As the cost of 3-D printing has dropped, it's become a more feasible tool for a wide variety of industries, especially healthcare. It's now possible to print custom organs for transplant, in a process called 3-D bioprinting.
3-D bioprinting has been used to create skin for burn victims, portions of muscle to patch a faulty heart, and even airway splints that can be implanted and then grow along with the patient.
Another exciting application of 3-D printing, which is already being used around the world, is the ability to create customizable prosthetic limbs. This has been a game-changer for many people who couldn't afford prosthetic limbs, especially of the lower arm and hand, which can now often be 3-D printed for just a few hundred dollars.
Robotic Surgery
The first completely robotic surgery and anesthesia was completed in 2008 by the da Vinci surgical robot, and since then the industry has taken off (the anesthesia was done by a different robot, nicknamed McSleepy). Robotic surgeons can be more precise, and in some cases can perform better surgery than a human.
Now one in four U.S. hospitals have at least one da Vinci robot, which requires a surgeon to operate. There are also newer systems that can perform surgery all on their own, once they're programmed to do so.
Recent studies have also found that robotic surgery reduces the risk of blood loss in obese prostate cancer patients. Compared with patients who had a human surgeon, patients who underwent robotic-assisted operations were 83% less likely to require blood transfusions. They also had shorter hospital stays, being 72% less likely to stay longer than usual.
Better Hospital Experiences
Many hospitals are taking steps to provide a better experience for patients, making use of the same kinds of networking and communication tools we've come to expect from our social networks and phone apps.
These tools are helping make hospitals more efficient, freeing up valuable time and resources for physicians and healthcare workers. Hospital management as a whole can be vastly improved.
These innovations include systems to better collect and organize patient data, self-check-in kiosks that patients can use to check themselves in and see important information, and mobile solutions that let physicians deliver better long-distance care.
Stanford Hospital, for example, has introduced a telemedicine system that lets patients access a variety of hospital services through their website, saving everyone time and hassle and providing a more comfortable experience for patients. The Ottawa Hospital has also put innovative new management systems in place, which are reducing inefficiencies and letting physicians spend more time with patients.
These healthcare tech innovations, along with countless others, are all acting to transform our healthcare system for the better. As the health industry continues to adopt the latest and greatest, we'll keep seeing more incredible advances coming our way.
Do you care about the state of our nation's healthcare? Then check out the CHIME National Patient ID Challenge to create a better way to ensure patient health data accuracy, where the contest entries are currently in the judging stage.
