The Top Medical Advancements and Inventions of 2019

Greater Patient Care

Technology has made it easier for doctors to treat their patients. Whether it is providing adequate equipment or treatment methods, technology has contributed to making medical care much more straightforward and useful for the patients.

Doctors can connect with their patients in a much-refined way, keep track of their progress, make appointments on the go, and provide them with adequate medicinal treatments as well. Several medical institutes and hospitals have their dedicated software from where patients can access medical services, book appointments, and seek medical advice from specific medical professionals. Everything can be managed within a few clicks.

Technology has made medical care simpler for the doctors and useful for the patients. Now you don’t have to wait in long queues to book an appointment with the doctor. Even technology has enabled patients to get their required medicines at the doorsteps. There are plenty of medical apps that provide all sorts of drugs. You can book these medicines just like you place an order on the eCommerce application, and your order will be delivered in no time. Some apps provide medical consultation, as well.

Workflow Management

Just like any other sector, the healthcare sector is also brimming with work. A lot is going in medical institutions that might not be evident from a patients’ perspective. Duties have to be allotted, patients have to be categorized, plans have to be made, and there are a lot of other management tasks that need to accomplish. Without the assistance of technology, all these tasks can become a severe burden on the medical professional.

Today, everything has become automated, within a few clicks and scroll, you can do things without any hassle. There is plenty of therapeutic software to manage the workflow of Medical Institutions. Technology has significantly contributed to making the tasks easier and simplified for the professionals. Now medical professionals don’t have to waste their time in managing the tasks and concentrate more on the patients and work on enhancing their well being.

Medical Advancements in The Year 2019

Smart Inhalers

Asthmatic diseases can take a toll on your life. There are plenty of health risks associated with asthma, like breathlessness, difficulty in breathing, blocked lungs, and so on. Inhalers have remained reliable equipment to treat asthma and dampen its symptoms. Over the years, inhalers have gone through several transformations that have eventually made them an effective means to address asthmatic issues. Inhalers generally work for 90% of patients. Research shows that only 50% of patients are benefiting with the use of inhalers as the rest of them are not able to use inhalers correctly.

There has been a significant development in the manufacture of inhalers to make them more efficient for the users. Bluetooth devices are omnipresent, and we can see Bluetooth enabled devices everywhere. Now, you can even use a Bluetooth enabled inhaler. It is basically a small device attached to the inhaler. It keeps a record of the date and time of each dose. The main advantage of this smart inhaler is that it lets you know whether you have taken the treatment correctly or not.

Robotic Surgery

Automation has taken over the world. Robotics is another significant tread toward radical development. Making the tasks easier to complete and minimizing the risk of errors, the inclusion of robotics technology have made drastic changes in all industries. The medical sector is also embracing the robotic technology by bringing them into surgery. Robotic surgery is a brand new wave of technology in the health sector.

It is generally used for minimally invasive procedures. Robotic surgery is primarily aimed to provide precision, control, flexibility, and reliability in operation. As mentioned earlier, with robotics technology, there are minimal chances of errors. Hence, robotic surgery will increase efficiency and minimize the probability of risk involved in a particular operation.

With the help of robotic surgery, surgeons can conduct highly complex procedures with ease that is otherwise hard to complete. There are plenty of hospitals that have already adopted this technology and have been embracing its benefits. It is anticipated that soon robots will replace the surgeons and conduct all the major surgeries with a 100% success rate. While there were many criticisms for robotic surgery, but its efficiency in performing the procedure has cleared the dark clouds of apprehensions.

Wireless Brain Sensors

Brain sensors are highly essential equipment to monitor brain sensations and record nervous system behavior. There are plenty of reformed brain sensors that are used to do the job. Over the years, these brain sensors have transformed and contributed to enhancing medical services. With the advent of technology and medical advancements, scientists were successful in creating bioresorbable electronics that are used as brain sensors and work more efficiently than their previous versions. These devices are used to measure the temperature and pressure in the brain that functions as useful insights to conduct the treatment.

When your brain goes through a severe ailment, it is necessary to gauge the brain functions and make a well informed treatment decision that works best for your mind. The latest advancement in the brain sensors has enabled doctors to read the measurements if the brain effortlessly. These devices are wireless and hardly require any maintenance. Several medical institutions have already adopted these wireless devices and started enjoying its benefits.

Some studies have also proven that these devices have even reduced the need for surgeries that were once mandatory to determine and treat the brain functions. Doctors ad surgeons equally prefer this device and said that it had made their job a lot easier. This wireless device reads the correct temperature and pressure of the brain. Just like any other medical advancement, wireless brain sensors also faced some criticism, and constant research is being conducted to bring these sensors into the mainstream healthcare industry.

3-D Printing

This reformed way of printing has become a hot topic in the market. Providing life-like images of an object and making it easier to decipher the information, 3-D printing is one of the most significant technological developments of the decade. 3-D printing has showcased its prowess in almost every industry. Whether it architects’ designs or artistic painting, 3-D painting has changed the way images were perceived earlier. The medical sector is the newly benefited by this revolutionary technology. 3-D printers are used to create images of joints and muscles during the surgery. This way, surgeons will get a better understanding of the patient’s body.

3-D printed prosthetics are increasingly becoming popular in the medical sector as they are highly functional and brimming with state of the art technology. Allowing doctors to match the patient’s measurements to the millimeter, 3-D printers have made the job easier for the doctors.

3-D prints can be used for both long term and short term use. For instance, if you want to monitor the development of a particular cancer cell in the body, 3-D prints will enable you to get the life-like images and complete the growth of the cell. You can also use these prints to conduct a sonography or X-ray test. Either way, 3-D prints are useful.

Artificial Organs

While 3-D printing is making a revolution in the medical industry, bioprinting is also making its presence felt in the sector. Primarily aimed to regenerate cells for burn victims, bioprinting has paved the way for several other medical possibilities as well. There has been constant research conducted behind bioprinting, and scientists have been making advancements in this technology. So far, they have been able to create blood vessels, synthetic ovaries, and pancreas. With the help of artificial organs, patients can receive better replacements. Artificial organs come handy when an adequate donor is hard to find. Though these organs are quite expensive, they do the work effectively.

Artificial organs can grow like an original organ once they are replaced against the faulty organ in the body. It is important to note that artificial organs cannot be placed in the body just like that; doctors need to prepare your body before inserting artificial organs.

There are instances when the body rejects the organ that further generates severe issues in the body. Hence, it is essential to conduct proper treatment before welcoming an artificial organ. Apart from this minor concern, artificial organs have successfully found their place in the medical industry and saved millions of lives so far. These life-saving transplants have saved many lives, and there have been sporadic cases of side effects.

Pharmacogenomic Testing

There have been several advancements in the diagnosis methods over the years. Every patient has their own metabolism and immune system that makes a difference in their diagnosis and testing. Pharmacogenomic testing is a brand new way to determine patients’ health conditions for a particular treatment or therapy. It identifies a patient’s genetic formation so that medical treatment can be tailored accordingly. In layman terms, pharmacogenomic testing determines how the patient’s body will respond to a specific treatment, therapy, medication, etc.

There are split reviews regarding the pharmacogenomic testing, while some medical experts are in support of this radical medical advancement, others are quite pessimistic about this. Despite technological progress, not every hospital can include this testing method into their treatment approaches.

Pharmacogenomic testing is still undergoing research, and stakeholders in the United States and Europe are inspecting the pharmacogenomics and its benefits in the medical industry. We are yet to see whether pharmacogenomic testing will be brought to the mainstream healthcare industry or not.

Artificial Intelligence

There’s no doubt in asserting that artificial intelligence has taken the world with a storm. Artificial intelligence has been intercepted into every possible industry now. The digital system basically can perform tasks that are commonly completed with human information. Artificial intelligence is generally used to reason, discover, generalize, and learn more about the concerned subject matter. Artificial intelligence matches the social performance of tasks, and they are even used to complete the tasks with more efficiency than humans. Now, the medical industry is embracing artificial intelligence. Medical diagnosis and diagnostic scans are primarily benefited by artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence is primarily used to assist medical professionals in generating accurate medical diagnosis and identifying pathology on the scan. It can also be used to interpret the infinite amount of health data. Artificial data can handle unlimited data, and the health sector can harness this potential to manage their data in the best way possible.

Furthermore, artificial intelligence is making baby steps towards dominating each department of the medical sector. We would have to wait a little longer to see artificial intelligence taking over the pharmaceutical industry. It is anticipated that within 2025, artificial intelligence will be all over the medical industry, helping doctors to treat their patients in a more refined way.

Treatment of Acute Strokes

Heart strokes have become a grave medical concern worldwide. Blame it on the unhealthy diet or negligent towards the health, heart strokes have become a major medical issue that often leads to death. Over the years, scientists have been working to find a reliable treatment for heart strokes.

American Heart Association and American Stroke Association in 2018 have opened a new avenue for the treatment of stroke. The 2018 guidelines were a revised version of the 2013 guidelines, which mentioned the mechanical thrombectomy trials. The recent instructions say that there are clear benefits for an “extended window” mechanical thrombectomy. It can treat patients with large vessel occlusion. The guidelines also mentioned that it could manage the patients within 16-24 hours, which is considered as the major attraction of this treatment.

Immunotherapy

There have been several advancements in the medical industry aimed to treat the immune system. Safeguarding our body from the entire chronic ailment and creating a protective shield around your body to protect it from diseases, it is essential to keep your immune system boosted.

There are plenty of conditions that hamper the functionality of your immune system. Cancer is one such life-threatening disease that attacks your immune system. Immunotherapy is the latest advancement in the medical industry that has revolutionized cancer treatment. It is aimed to leverage the immune system and to make it capable of fighting tumors.

Solid tumors such as melanoma and small cell lung cancer are primarily treated by immunotherapy. Immunotherapy has the high potential to address the cancerous cells and prepping your immune system to fight off the tumors. Though so far, immunotherapy is only used to treat small cells of cancers, it is anticipated that it will soon treat all types of tumors. Coming years will be highly crucial for the development of immunotherapy. So far, the medical institutions who have adopted immunotherapy have realized the ubiquitous benefits of this reliable cancer treatment.

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is omnipresent today. VR/MR applications are everywhere. Providing users with a life-like experience of viewing virtual reality creates an alternate reality for the viewers. The medical industry is also harnessing the potentials of virtual reality. Generally, virtual reality is used in medical education. With the immersive approach, virtual reality is an excellent initiative audio, video, and kinesthetic learning for medical students.

Virtual reality requires VR goggles, superimposes computer-generated images, and sounds to provide real-world ambiance for the users. Virtual reality allows medical students to take their learning experience to the next level. Not just watching a surgery, they can experience the operation going on in front of their eyes.

This way, medical students can learn beyond their bookish knowledge. It is quite evident that practical know-how is greater than the experience, and virtual reality is the most effective way to boost practical learning. Virtual reality applications are also used in surgical simulation and diagnostic imaging, as well. In the coming years, virtual reality will take many leaps forward in the medical industry and bring positive innovations aimed at enhancing the medical profession. Till then, medical students should embrace virtual reality to the most.

Take Advantage of Medical Care Improvements

No matter how hard you try and how safe you keep yourself, there will be some loopholes left from your body can be attacked by diseases. Medical care becomes an essential element to maintain or restore the health of patients. Every year, there is a significant advancement in the pharmaceutical sector that contributes to leverage health improvement. There’s no doubt in asserting that technology has made it possible to make such significant medical advancements. It is essential to remain vigilant about these advancements and stay updated to the latest upgrades in the pharmaceutical industry to make the most of the development.

These medical advancements work as a breakthrough in the healthcare industry and bring radical changes that are fruitful for both medical institutions and patients.

The above mentioned were some of the most significant medical advancements that happened this year. These cutting edge medical advancements are yet to receive global popularity. Whether it was finding new vaccines or curing HIV, each advancement has touched a specific department and leveraged its potentials for the betterment of the patients. Now with these advancements, patients can avail of best-in-class treatments, and doctors can deploy quality treatment methods to get the best results.

With a brand new year all set to bring new opportunities, we can anticipate some more refine medical advancements that are yet to turn the tables for the pharmaceutical industry. For the time being, we must welcome the current progress and bring innovations to the medical industry. When we start embracing the improvements, the healthcare options can have significant growth.