Having no doubt looking at the pace at which new technologies are impacting our everyday lives is increasing at lightning speeds. As of today, 29% of Americans say their phone is the first thing and last thing they look at everyday which is a telling sign of how connected we are becoming to technology.
These technologies are starting to allow healthcare practitioners to offer faster, cheaper and more efficient patient care than ever before, which is certainly a step in the right direction.
Having look at everything, from new artificial hearts to electronic aspirin, the healthcare industry is slowly but surely becoming more agile, effective and cost-effective for patients looking for care.
Here, we look at some of the biggest innovations in healthcare technology with far reaching impacts:
Wearable Technology
Though wearable technology is still in its infancy, it has already started to have a widespread influence across many industries.
As wearable technology continues to improve to better meet the needs of its users, healthcare providers continue to hope that its use will impact both the experience of patients and practitioners to better receive and administer care.
This new technology could allow a doctor someday interact with a patient, while simultaneously pulling up their medical history using Google Glass. The surgery performed using Google Glass could serve as an example of real-time education for medical students and other professionals
Digestible sensors
Since its approval in 2011, digestible sensors have continued to provide healthcare professionals with more information about the human body and how various treatment solutions affect each system of organs.
3D printers
There have been many widespread uses of 3D printers today in all ramifications, ranging from guns to models of the Empire State building, but the medical uses are extremely practical and overtime could really solve ongoing health issues once it’s figured out how to accurately apply them to people.
Uses of 3D Printers
- Replacing Cartilage & Bone:
3D printers have also helped scientists and doctors create stem cells that could eventually develop into both bone and cartilage in the long-term.
- Patching a Broken Heart:
Printing cells with a 3D printer proves useful in a recent study of rats that had previously suffered heart attacks and were given these patches of cells to help slowly help improve their heart function overtime
- Replacement Organs
Printing new part for organs or entire organs all together will help solve an ongoing medical need and help save hundreds of thousands of people every year waiting for an organ donation to come through.
