The WHO Global Strategy for Digital Health 2020-2025 states that technological health care devices should be accessible to patients. Security and privacy of information, transparency of data processing, and building trust in e-services are prioritized.
WHO believes that technological health care should be developed as an organic ecosystem that will ensure universal health coverage.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a computer’s imitation of human logic and thought processes to solve various tasks.
AI is an assistant to scientists and doctors in various fields of medicine:
- electronic health record management;
- disease diagnosis;
- medication and surgical treatment planning;
- personalized medical care;
- health monitoring;
- drug development;
- virtual consultations.
AI reduces the burden on the healthcare system. Common diseases – cancer, diabetic retinopathy, Alzheimer’s disease, COVID-19 – are detected earlier. More patients receive timely care and are less likely to experience serious complications.
Medical Robotics
Can a robot perform medical operations? This is a question scientists have been asking since the 1970s. The first medical robots in surgery appeared as space and military projects. They were improved and gradually introduced into operating rooms. Robots help perform complex surgical procedures.
Human-robot interaction is the principle that is realized in a surgical robotic system:
The surgeon controls the robot limb with the help of a haptic interface. He observes the operation through a monitor and optical channels. The screen shows the surgical area with the patient’s internal organs and instruments. A virtual three-dimensional model can be superimposed on the image, which serves as a reference point for the surgeon. It is created in advance, in preparation for the operation.
The robotic limb with an instrument recognizes the surgeon’s hand movements and repeats them.
The innovation allows minimally invasive surgeries. The surgeon touches less healthy tissue, which reduces the traumatic nature of the intervention and improves clinical outcome. Patients operated on in this way lose less blood, are discharged from hospital more quickly and return to their normal lives.
Robots are also involved in rehabilitation programs. They communicate with patients and calm them down with positive emotional effects. Robots are also involved in hospital logistics, delivering linen, food and medication.
Health monitoring devices
Smartwatches turn from an accessory into a miniature diagnostic complex. They not only show the time, but also perform many other functions: from measuring the number of steps taken to analyzing important biological indicators.
The technology recognizes health parameters thanks to built-in sensors and software. For the gadget to work correctly, it must be placed close to the skin.
In recent years, smartwatches have been increasingly used in medical research. Among other things, these devices help to monitor the condition of patients:
- With neurological diseases. Monitoring with wearable devices is performed in patients with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and stroke. Monitoring devices analyze voice and speech changes, movement disorders, and records seizures;
- With cardiovascular disease. Lack of exercise is one of the cardiologic risk factors. The monitoring devices help to objectively assess the distance traveled and physical activity during the day. This data can become a convincing argument for the patient in favor of lifestyle changes. The device monitors the user’s heart rate. In the future, even more information will be provided by blood pressure, biochemical and biomechanical sensors. Manufacturers are improving them for use in medicine.
Smartwatches also improve adherence to drug therapy and diet. These devices track a patient’s swallowing and chewing movements and estimates how long they have been eating. The smartwatch reminds you when to take your medication.
Virtual and Augmented Reality devices
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) make it possible to simulate various situations in medicine. Using head-mounted devices and three-dimensional projections, doctors and patients are immersed in a virtual world. There, the right solution for diagnosis and therapy can be found.
The points of contact between innovation and medicine are becoming more and more frequent:
- Treatment of chronic and phantom pain;
- improvement of attention and memory of patients with neurological diseases;
- help with psychiatric disorders: anxiety, depression, phobias, eating disorders.
Implantable devices and prostheses
Medical implants are devices or tissues that are placed inside or on the surface of the body. Implants have long been used in medicine for purposes ranging from controlling body functions to replacing a missing body part.
The field of patient-specific devices (PSD) is exploring methods of making customized implants. These products take into account the anatomical features of the patient and provide an acceptable aesthetic result. PSD development is closely linked to additive manufacturing. The implant model is first created on a computer using CT and MRI images of the patient and then printed on a 3D printer.
Even more ideas for innovation come from wireless technology. Implants transmit information about the processes inside the body to a computer. Pressure sensors are being placed in orthopedic prostheses to learn more about joint movement. Implantable sensors are being developed to assess cardiovascular performance. In neurosurgery, prototypes are emerging that transmit brain activity data over Wi-Fi.
Bioprinting
Bioprinting is the realization of the long-standing dream of mankind to create organs and tissues to replace damaged or lost ones. The innovation is based on 3D printing methods. Special bioinks and biopaper are used for printing. They are created from viable cells, biomaterial and biological molecules.
To create a tissue or organ model, CT and MRI images of the patient are loaded into the program. Cells are then isolated, biomaterial is selected, and bioinks are created. The printed structure matures in a bioreactor. Bioprinting is used in several areas of medicine: in transplantation, drug discovery and research.
The innovation has helped create tissue structures for many body systems. Scientists are experimenting with nerve cells, printing blood vessels, growing fragments of bone and cartilage tissue for plastic surgery in case of injuries and fractures.
Conclusion
Innovative technologies are significantly changing the face of medicine, opening new horizons for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of patients. Artificial intelligence, medical robotics, wearable devices, virtual and augmented reality, and bioprinting are all making rapid inroads into healthcare, improving the quality and accessibility of medical services. Not only are they helping to improve diagnostic accuracy and treatment efficiency, but they are also having a profound impact on the personalization of care. In the future, as technology advances, we can expect to see even greater advances, leading to significant changes in treatment approaches and increased longevity of people’s lives.
