Medical equipment is always evolving and developing, offering improved diagnostics and treatments for millions and as the technology becomes more readily accessible, more treatments can be made available than ever before. Medical technology doesn’t just include the treatment or care drugs available in hospitals and clinics but covers a huge variety of incredible medical equipment including equipment used by hikers and travellers.
Care is also an important part of recovery and healthcare centres are hiring a greater number of supportive care staff who can provide unrivalled care for patients, aiding in their recovery and ensuring they and their families feel well supported and have someone to turn to. As we gain a greater understanding of the human mind and emotions, healthcare providers can offer a deeper level of supportive care that caters to the individual. Meeting their personal needs and ensuring they receive the additional therapies that matter to them and support their recovery journey.
The latest developments in medical technology have made it easier to treat rare and hard-to-reach tumours, allow hikers to treat deep injuries while away from civilisation and even allow surgeons to provide surgery, thousands of miles away from their patient. We have detailed these and other incredible technologies below that might just save your life or the life of someone you know in the future.
Proton beam therapy is a relatively new cancer treatment that has been in research and development for decades. It is a development of conventional radiotherapy which uses x-rays (photons) to treat cancerous tissue. Proton beam therapy, as the name suggests, uses high-energy proton beams to treat cancers and is especially effective at treating tumours located in hard-to-reach or sensitive locations in the body with less severity of side effects. Side effects such as nausea and fatigue are common with radiotherapy treatments but the physics of protons means a specific stopping depth can be set specifically to the patient and their diagnosis, preventing radiation reaching surrounding healthy tissues.
Another relatively new cancer treatment, MRI-guided radiotherapy expands on conventional radiotherapy and combines the use of two technological advanced diagnostic and treatment machines to provide accurate treatment and reduce the side effects experienced by patients. MRI-guided radiotherapy uses a combination of a linear accelerator or LINAC machine used to deliver radiotherapy and the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine, this combination of equipment is called an MR-LINAC machine. The MR-LINAC machine is able to provide real-time imaging as treatment is delivered and automatically stops delivering treatment should the tumour move out of the designated treatment area. This a common occurrence for cancers that lie close to organs that naturally move such as digestion and respiration systems and helps to reduce radiation affecting healthy surrounding tissues.
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Getting children to do anything that is good for them can be difficult, let alone trying to get your kids to consistently take medicine or treatment drugs for the benefit of their health. 3D printing is an incredible technology and has already made waves in the medical world with the ability to print custom-designed equipment such as casts for broken bones and light-weight limbs for amputees. Further developments in the use of 3D printing with edible and medically safe materials have allowed for child-friendly pills to be printed in fun shapes such as animals and other fun creatures. Currently still in development, these types of fun, custom-printed pills hope to come to market within the next 5-10 years and could change child medicine for the better.
The development of surgical robots could change the practice of surgery forever and these incredible devices are already being used in hospitals across the USA and Europe. Doctors use a control panel connected to a robotic arm system that includes a camera and surgical tools, the control panel allows them a greater level of precision, flexibility and allows doctors to carry out complex procedures with more ease. Surgical robots are less invasive than regular surgery reducing scar tissue and helping to aid the recovery process for patients.
Robot surgery also opens up greater opportunities for specialists to perform procedures from a distance. Meaning those with complex issues that require treatment in distant countries that don’t have the facilities available could receive improved treatment faster and with a greater chance of recovery.
Transplant lists are long and can be complicated but 3D printing, a technology already mentioned in this list, could change organ transplants completely. 3D bioprinting has already shown amazing developments and scientists have been able to print blood vessels, synthetic organs and skin cells. These can then be transplanted into the patient and carefully grown to replace the faulty organ. Organs and synthetic tissues can be grown using cells from the patient’s body, reducing the chance of rejection and easing the demand for organ donors across the world.
Currently, patients that receive transplants need to take a long course of immunosuppressant drugs to reduce rejection of the transplanted organ, this can have negative side effects and puts patients at the risk of further illnesses which the body cannot naturally fight off.
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Many vulnerable people are at risk every day and smart healthcare wearables can help doctors to identify when people need medical assistance and get it to them faster. Our smartphones and supported smartwatches can already track things like steps, heart rate and sleeping patterns and they could be developed to track blood glucose levels, monitor pregnant women and provide support for patients with other chronic health conditions. Healthcare wearables could soon reduce the load on emergency services and GPs and ensure the people that need help get it faster and before their health takes a turn for the worse.
The world is forever changing and as new technology is found and greater technological advancements are developed, long waits and overburdening of healthcare could soon become a relic of the past. Another positive of technological developments is the affordability of healthcare, as technology develops and becomes more readily accessible, more people can gain access to advanced technology and return to good health sooner.