Medical Technology: A Glimpse into High-Tech Health Care

 Medicine  

Cutting edge medical advancements are helping to detect diseases early and provide a tailored treatment that is highly effective in treating and curing illness. Here is a glimpse into the high-tech health care resulting from the newest in medical technology.

Not long ago, AIDS was considered as an untreatable disease. Cancer was considered as a disease with low chances of survival. Elders living alone had great difficulties reaching for help. The difficulties associated with monitoring high-risk patients 24/7 often led to their death. All these are changing now due to the emergence high-tech health care. Recent developments in patient surveillance and tracking are helping to closely monitor the high-risk patients. Advancements in genome sequencing and Pharmacogenomics are helping to detect diseases early and provide a tailored treatment that is highly effective in curing diseases, including cancer. Here is a glimpse into the high-tech health care resulting from the advancements in medical technology.

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Sensors, Wearable Devices, and Remote Monitoring Tools

New wearable medical devices can now detect and send alerts when a patient falls down. Bandages can detect infections by monitoring the pH level. Patients at high risk can be fitted with devices such as a cardiac cast that can monitor the heartbeat and send data to a monitoring center. Digestible sensors can transmit information about the human body, including organs. Patients can now stay at home rather than in the hospital, helping to cut down the hospital cost and the readmission requirements.

Robotic Surgery, Drug Discovery

A surgeon can now perform advanced surgeries by using a robotic hand that can reach through a small cut made in the body. This technique is used for several complex surgical tasks, including coronary artery bypass, kidney transplant, and gallbladder removal. Researchers can now use Hudson products like robotic assay screening and development system for drug discovery using different detection methods such as enzyme-linked immunoabsorption, reporter gene luminescence, and fluorescence energy transfer. Robotic systems can also be used to determine the pharmaceutical profile of a patient.

3D Printing

Biological materials such as blood vessels, heart tissues, and embryonic stem cells can now be printed using 3D printers. 3D printing has also been used for patching a broken heart as well as replacing organs. There have been advances in developing skins for patients by printing skin cells using this technique.

Optogenetics

Advances in neuroscience have made it possible for scientists to control the neurons in the brain. This technique is used for understanding the cause and curing different mental disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia.

There are greater benefits to humankind due to the advancements in medical technology. The high tech health care is ascending, and is helping to achieve things that were considered impossible not long ago. The emergence of big data analytics in discovering medical patterns is helping to understand diseases and treatments better. Use of robotics in surgical and drug discovery area seems very promising. Health monitoring devices are now even being integrated into smartphones, making the medical technology go mainstream. As medical tech grows, so will our quality of life.

By Anica Oaks

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About the Author - Anica is a freelance writer and web enthusiast. You can read some of her published work at her Google+ page.