6 Technologies Revolutionizing Healthcare
The healthcare industry is undergoing a digital revolution. From electronic medical records and telemedicine to remote patient monitoring and artificial intelligence, there are new technologies being created every day that aim to improve the quality of care for patients and reduce costs for providers. In this blog post, we'll look at six of these technologies and how they're revolutionizing healthcare.
Technology is changing the face of healthcare in two fundamental ways. The first and most obvious is through the introduction of new medical devices and technology. The second and perhaps less obvious, but no less important, is that technology is changing the way we interact with medical practitioners and with each other. No surprise that tech giants and new age startups alike are in a rush to develop new and innovative technology-based products to address these advances. According to reports, the use of augmented and virtual reality in the healthcare market is expected to grow at a CAGR of >25% and cross USD 5 billion by 2025.
In other examples, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is becoming a highly prevalent technology trend in the medical industry and is expected to reach USD 254 billion by 2026.
The size of the telemedicine industry is also expected to grow at 19.3% CAGR from 2020 to 2026. Reports show that the telehealth industry is expected to grow to around USD1 185 billion by 2026.
These statistics clearly depict how technology is shaping the face of the healthcare industry which is undergoing a period of rapid change. And the following six technologies are doing just that but in vastly different arenas.
1 – AI in Healthcare
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has influenced various industries, and healthcare is no exception. In the past five years, there has been a 900% rise in online search for “AI and healthcare”. AI when combined with IoT has been pivotal in upgrading traditional medical equipments. AI is also a prime example of the exponential impact technology has had in the industry.
There are plenty of applications for AI in the healthcare industry. Today, we have improved the efficiency of information processing and decision-making with the help of AI. AI and machine learning have become crucial in developing new medicines and enhancing efficient diagnosis processes.
Innovations in AI have also been applied in the mental health industry. Researchers from the Harvard and MIT University have used machine learning to keep track of new trends and mental health around the COVID-19 pandemic. With the help of AI models, researchers could scour tens of thousands of messages on Reddit regarding loneliness and suicidal indicators. They found that it had nearly doubled over this period. AI has enormous potential to redefine the future of the healthcare industry.
2 – Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is steadily becoming a significant contributor to the medical industry. Researchers have developed Nano-bots that are designed to unclog arteries to prevent heart attacks. Some scientists are on the road to developing Nano-particles that can cure neurological disorders more effectively.
Seperately, nanotechnology can be the breakthrough innovation that can solve the problem of misdiagnosis. One of the chief causes of misdiagnosis is that getting specific tests can be expensive for many. Further, many symptoms can be shared among numerous diseases, making it harder to zero in on the correct issue. Nanotechnology has been applied to create “smart pills”, using which doctors can now improve the rates of accurate diagnosis, making it easier for patients to invest in their health and get the treatment needed. Research predicts that this application of nanotechnology can save tens of thousands of lives every year, which are lost simply due to misdiagnosis, changing the face of healthcare.
3 – Telemedicine & Remote Care
The 2020 pandemic proved how essential telemedicine technology is. Healthcare providers had to rely heavily on video conferencing with patients to discuss, diagnose and treat their health problems.
Telemedicine has also stoked the demand for WebRTC, an open-source AI-based system that helps connect mobile applications to web browsers. This way, it becomes easier and more efficient to share audio, video and data for teleconferencing..
Besides this, telemedicine has also helped practioners store confidential patient data in cloudsystems. HIPAA compliant cloud hosting solutions are crucial to maintaining efficient functionality for any healthcare provider that uses EVR (electronic health records).
4 – Extended Reality in Health Care
Augmented and mixed reality technologies are increasingly being incorporated into healthcare settings. These technologies often appear in surgeons’ headsets, such as Microsoft’s Hololens 2. These headsets are designed to give heads-up information to the surgeon while they perform surgeries, allowing the use of both hands to perform a procedure. Augmented reality has allowed for richer training opportunities and collaborative experiences between remote experts and surgeons.
The cameras mounted on the headset also allow other doctors and surgeons to observe the surgery in real-time and give advice when needed. The headset has a holographic display, which is incredibly useful for training. Besides this, AR technology is also helping nurses to find veins easier to draw blood from.
5 – IoT & Wearables
Wearables are the future of health care. In a survey by Deloitte, nearly 40% of smartphone users have had a smartwatch. This is just one example of how widespread this technology has become. As consumer wearables technology becomes more prevalent around the globe, their potential for use in the healthcare industry looks extremely promising. Wearable technology allows doctors to monitor the status of their patients’ health remotely throughout the day, which can be especially beneficial for those who are unable to check in regularly with their doctor’s office.
Wearable devices have been found to be particularly useful for monitoring heart rate and blood oxygen saturation levels. These are two of the most basic things that a smartwatch or wearable device can provide, but they are also important indicators of overall physical health. Other wearable devices are designed to note physical health with blood oxygen saturation and pedometers. This is an incredibly essential aspect to prevent the dangers resulting from low blood oxygen saturation.
Apart from smartwatch technology, wearable technology also includes bio-patches and smart hearing aids. Bio-patches can be used instead of a smartwatch to track a person’s vitals, while smart hearing aids use AI technology to improve noise isolation.
6 – IT Management in Health Care
Interoperability is using a secure system to access and share health data and information between authorized stakeholders, irrespective of their location. In other words, interoperability is the ability to use different information systems, applications and devices to access, integrate, exchange and cooperate to use data in a coordinated way. This technique is useful across organizational, regional and national limits. It helps to provide seamless and timely sharing of information and ensure optimized healthcare services.
With the help of Health IT systems, healthcare providers can access patient medical records and patient history even if the information is stored at different geographical locations and on different computer systems.
Conclusion
Perhaps the most striking thing about all this is that these advancements have the potential to drastically alter the face of healthcare. At a time when doctors and nurses are already burning out in record numbers and medical errors are on the rise, new technologies can’t come fast enough. With many of these innovations being developed through crowdsourcing, there’s good reason to believe that they will continue getting better and better. The future is looking bright for the health industry.
Carnera has been fortunate to be working with some amazing clients on the technologies we’ve spoken about above. If you also have an idea you need to transform into a real world product, or are looking to exchange notes, please reach out to us below.
