Eons ago, humans only depended on the healing factors of herbal plants. While herbs are still commonly used to craft medicines, we’ve gone far beyond having to rely on plants alone to treat human ailments.
Within the past century, breakthroughs in both the technology and medical sciences have allowed human beings to advance the art of medicine at a pace never before seen in our history.
What’s even more astonishing is that we’ve barely scraped the surface of what human medicine can do for us. Medical scientists are always grinding for new solutions to combat viruses, cure diseases, improve medical care and solve rare ailments.
Last year, we were blessed with some amazing medical breakthrough like successful two-face transplants, migraine prevention injectables, and the successful birth of a baby via uterus from a deceased donor, just to name a few.
This year, we are in for some promising medical advances that can take the medical field to even greater heights
1. Wireless Brain Sensors
Whenever you see a patient that has to be confined due to a brain or head related problem, typically you see wires and sensors all connected to the cranium, like something out of The Matrix. This process restricts the patient’s mobility and is susceptible to several factors that can play out in the medical findings. But in 2019, doctors can now monitor brain activity wirelessly.
Medical scientists have now devised bioresorbable electronics made out of plastic. They can gather information like temperature, pressure, and brain waves within a patient’s skull without needing to install wires or conducting open surgery. The sensor dissolves over time and does not risk complication afterward. As these technologies advance, their use, and the need to find qualified professionals who can understand the information the brain is sending will only continue to grow.
2. Pharmacogenomics Testing
Every person has a different response to certain drugs. We metabolize each prescription differently depending on how our genetic makeup interacts with the chemical mixture of each compound. Pharmacogenomics testing is an emerging method to identify how an individual responds to medication. This branch of medicine is not recently new, but the advent of technology makes it more potent and promising this year.
Pharmacogenomics testing requires a lot of data, from your genetic makeup to the ingredients of the drug and how they interact with your physiology. Technology today allows a fast, precise result from pharmacogenomics testing. This allows physicians and pharmacists to prescribe medications that target specific ailments, without risking the overall health of their patients.
3. AI Healthcare
There is no doubt that humans are smarter than artificial intelligence. After all, even complex AI rely on input from human beings to perform their basic functions. But if there is one advantage they have that we cannot deny it is their ability to mast instant calculation and process immense amounts of information far quicker than a human being. AI has been slowly but surely integrated into healthcare processes around the world. This medical technology allows doctors to make sound medical decisions faster and with greater accuracy than ever before.
AI healthcare does not make a doctor lazy, but it does them avoid getting burnout. AI can assist doctors with making an informed decision based on facts readily available in the system, read medical exams with ease, and improve accuracy in diagnoses.
4. Immunotherapy
Using the body’s own immune system for fighting certain deadly diseases like cancer is nothing new, but in 2019 it has become far wider, complex and inclusive. Every day, scientists are able to identify possible biomarkers to make immunotherapy even more effective against illnesses.
They do it by continuing to evolve the way they make multiple combination strategies. As of this writing, more than 2,500 trials using immunotherapy are currently being conducted. The sheer number of trials increases the speed of development and proliferates more ways to strategize how these treatments can be effectively used.
Of all the various methods that human beings use to fight cancer, immunotherapy seems to hold the most promise for conquering the disease once and for all.
5. Robotic Surgery
Robots have already been integrated into our society, even if you’re not aware of it. Currently, their presence is highly concentrated in the manufacturing industry, specifically in automotive and electronics. But they are slowly making their way into the hospital operating room. While robotic surgery is not necessarily new, the extent that it’s being used, and the results that are being recorded, most certainly are.
This year, robots are poised to become an important part of surgeries and other activities in the operating room. Due to their extreme precision, surgeons have better guidance to do their job greater ease and more efficiency. The promise is to have a very successful operation that results in controlled pain and a shortened recovery period for the patient.
