With technology dominating the world, we are all now surrounded by gadgets in almost every area of our lives. Be it the way we socialize or the way we work, educate, or even the way we take care of ourselves. Due to such technological advancements, everything has literally transformed! Coming to the medicine and healthcare scenario, we are now living in a world where new and novel concepts, tools, methods are introduced on a daily basis. Some work and change the world for the better, while others are just a fad. Great technology that seeks to help people has revolutionized the whole industry and is definitely here to stay and improve! Here is a list of the top ten high-tech equipment that is increasingly used in healthcare today!
- Telehealth
One of the most trending advancements in the healthcare industry is the increasing dependence on mobiles and laptops for online doctor consultation. This is commonly referred to as Telehealth. With the onset of COVID-19, the high video technology alongside the ever expanding internet services has made telehealth a thing of importance in the medical sector. The perfect utilization of today’s technology including a mobile device with a two-way camera, wearable devices, and the internet has been able to save time for both patients and doctors. People from rural areas or the ones who cannot travel far for good healthcare services can still get them while staying where they are through telehealth!
2) Robotic Surgery
With the great advancements in artificial intelligence, robots have been around for quite a time now. Check out some of the most amazing robots in the world along with their uses. From industrial uses to personal benefits, and now to provide better healthcare, these AI-powered devices are doing wonders across the planet today! Since the 1980s, robotic surgery has emerged as a piece of great equipment in the health sector. It assures precision, more control, and better flexibility. Robotic surgery helps the surgeons perform the otherwise complex procedures with accuracy. Some examples include nanobots that are used to diagnose diseases in the bloodstream, exoskeletons that assist in physical therapy, and the new multi-armed devices that are used during an operation.
3) Pharmacogenomics- Personalized Medicine
Pharmacogenomics is rapidly taking on the medical world. By studying an individual’s genetic breakdown and responses to various doses and drugs, doctors and scientists can provide precision medicine to the patients. Thus, this helps in preventing any side effects of maybe overprescribing a particular drug. Pharmacogenomics has gained importance in the past few years as it provides a better service to the patients by knowing how their genes react to certain drugs. Due to its more effectiveness, personalized medicine can treat problems like rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, etc. in an extraordinary way.
4) Blockchain Technology
Another piece of equipment that is being highly used in the healthcare sector is blockchain technology. With the help of unhackable cryptography, this technology helps in safely keeping a ledger of patients’ information. Medical fraud costs around USD 60 billion per year to the US alone. Thus having blockchain technology is a great way to be more secure in a world where health data is at a huge risk. Due to this ecosystem, the medical healthcare industry has been able to protect a person’s history and data.
5) Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
Being around for some time now, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have been able to serve the medical healthcare industry better. Hybrid and simulated environments have now found an important place in medical education. Providing hands-on training with real technology, AR and VR combined are helping in creating better future doctors. Medical students are today able to learn with a full range of senses like visual, audio, and kinesthetic. It is due to these advancements in medicare that education has taken a real-life avatar. This further helps in providing better services to the patients including a proper diagnosis, finer treatment, and the overall patient’s recovery.
6) 3D Printing
Another one of the hottest healthcare equipment, 3D Printing has proven to be of great assistance to doctors, researchers, and other people. Since its introduction to the market, this type of printing has improved performance as well as the outcome. Due to 3D Prints, the implantation process has become much easier and accurate than ever before! Moreover, they can be used to create joints for surgery. With the printing process, the medical industry can function on precision and perfection. An individual’s organs can be measured down to even millimeters. Hence, 3D Printing is a great example of how well technological advancements can complement medicine.
7) Wearable Technology
Wearable technology is literally everywhere today! From smart watches to mobile applications, health can quite easily be measured using tech devices. This advancement helps people in tracking their daily steps, heartbeat rate, overall physical activity, sleeping patterns as well as daily screen time. Wearable technology can therefore help the world know themselves and their habits better. Not only does the use of such technology assist an individual in knowing any arising or existing problems in their body, but it also motivates them to make health a priority in their lives. The data further aids in combating diseases like diabetes.
8) Smart Inhalers
Bluetooth enabled inhalers, known as smart inhalers immensely help asthma sufferers. If used properly, inhalers are a great help in treating the problem. But given the facts, not all patients are able to use them effectively, due to which their situation might become chronic. Thus, in order to be able to help asthma patients, smart inhalers have been incorporated in healthcare today! The little device when connected to smart technological devices like phones or tablets, record accurate data for later references. These records then show the exact date and time of inhaler usage, along with whether it was rightly administered or not.
9)Artificial Organs
The creation of artificial organs has been revolutionary in the world of medicine and healthcare! Bio-printing, when initially introduced, helped in regenerating skin cells for burnt body parts. But today, with the modernization of the whole medicare sector, scientists have been successfully able to build synthetic ovaries, blood vessels, and pancreas! The transplantation process is already here to save the world. After their creation, these organs are implanted in the patient’s body, which tends to adapt to the human body and also grow within.
10) Quantum Computing
Quantum Computing, a comparatively newer concept in health and medicine, seeks to be able to better the whole healthcare scenario. With the association of technology and machine learning, quantum computing has helped in quickly recognizing annotations and medical tools during cataract surgeries. The computational power is ready to take on the world with its great applications in genomics, medical imaging, and drug discovery and comparisons. Some companies including IBM today provide quantum cloud computing. More investment and discussions in this potential medical revolution are yet to be done. Quantum computing will soon change the way the medical sector works.
