The
earth will be home to nearly 9.8 billion people by 2050 according to a UN
report. Shocking? Not exactly because the upward trend in population size is
only expected to continue.
Around $7 trillion+ was the cost
for health and social programs worldwide a few years back and $585 billion was
wasted on error-prone and inefficiently delivered services. Shocked? Definitely.
So if we put our brains to imagine how the existing mHealth mobile app
development services are going to cope with
providing affordable and quality healthcare for nearly 9.8 billion people by
2050, we are left with a blank. Technology will come to the sector’s rescue
here, especially in terms of “ensuring inclusive access to care” for the world
population.
While, Virtual and Augmented
Reality, Healthcare trackers, wearables and sensors, Medical Tricorder, Genome
Sequencing, Nanotechnology, Robotics, and 3D Printing is there to save the
diagnostics, the delivery of healthcare services dependent on the already
stressed healthcare resources are going to thrive on the following
technologies:
1. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence
Solutions have the potential to transform the
healthcare landscape completely. AI algorithms are capable of mining medical
records, design treatment plans or create drugs way faster than any current
factor in the healthcare sector. There are supercomputers that root out
therapies from a database of molecular structures. As hospitals update their
tools and processes for the digital age, AI presents an opportunity for humanity
to widen their horizons if it is implemented early.
The ability of global health
watchdogs to detect diseases, viruses and the R&D for medications will
multiply manifold with early utilization of AI. The emergence of AI Chatbots
that tap into natural language processing, knowledge management, and sentiment
analysis capabilities are being touted as money-savers the hospitals need in
the area of customer service.
2. Internet of Things for Healthcare
This technology shall bring about
the following:
·
The ability
to manage virtually any number of medical/healthcare devices
·
Automation
of device-to-analytics data flow
·
Facilitation
of remote monitoring of patient’s health statistics
·
Streamline
hospital’s asset management
·
Allow
remote configuration and tuning of medical devices
·
Availability
of data analytics applications for clinicians and patients
·
Predictive
device maintenance and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act) compliant data security
Certain mHealth mobile app
development companies have also created
open-source IoT platforms which allow original equipment manufacturers and
healthcare system integrators to establish cross-device connectivity for
implementing smart features into medical devices and related software systems.
3. Blockchain Technology
In generic terms, Blockchain is a
distributed system which records and stores transaction Records.
Blockchain
Development Services can be used in healthcare for Drug Traceability where
each transaction between the manufacturers and wholesalers, pharmacists, etc.
can be tracked. For Improvement and authentication of health records, smart
contracts, clinical trials, precision medicine, genomics research, for EHRs
through Immutability via File Integrity, Cybersecurity via Data Access
Management and Interoperability via Collaborative Version Control.
4. Machine Learning
Machine learning is basically the
science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed. As
researched and anticipated, advancements in Machine Learning
Solutions are going to impact both patient care
and patient outcomes in the coming years. Machine learning algorithms (deep
learning algorithms) are going to be increasingly used to improve diagnosis and
care plans which will be a lot more accurate than a human doctor and will yield
much better results.
For example, Google has used
machine learning to develop a tool that detects breast cancer better than human
pathologists; and a recent article from The Journal of The American Medical Association
described the success of using machine learning to detect diabetic retinopathy
in retinal photographs.
5. Robotics
One of the fastest growing fields
of healthcare is robotics, it allows doctors to perform complex surgeries that
might be otherwise impossible. Robotics developments range from companion
robots, surgical robots, disinfectant robots or exoskeletons. With the help of
these Robots, doctors can cure spinal cord injury, rehabilitation of stroke and
paralyzed people.
Few robot companions such as Jibo, Pepper, Paro, and Buddy can serve as a social
partner in order to deal with loneliness or treat mental health issues. Some of
them even contain touch sensors, microphones, and cameras. Thus their owners
can ask them to play their favorite songs, movie, interact with them or even remind
them about their medications.
Summing Up
Cooperation between people and
technology could result in amazing achievements in medicine and healthcare.
Unsustainable healthcare systems can be transformed into sustainable ones with
the capabilities of digital technology which will also lead to an equal
relationship between healthcare professionals and patients.
The above-discussed technologies
are being researched, developed and invested in to ensure that people are
healthier and can access cheaper, faster and efficient care they need, to
realize their life goals and potential. These technologies are putting
individuals at the center of healthcare systems and are about to change the
future of healthcare dramatically.
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