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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Healthcare technology trends: what the future holds for the field

By Diogo Costa. Originally published at ValueWalk.

Healthcare Technology Medicare Trust

Innovation in the healthcare technology field is an expanding field, with very promising possibilities. This is because current and future technologies can be applied in the daily lives of clinics, offices and hospitals, improving the quality of patient care. As in other sectors, companies that bet on innovation in health have an advantage in an increasingly competitive market.


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Being such an important field to our lives, any innovations brought to it represent a series of benefits, both for professionals in the sector and for patients and society in general. For example, a strategy that focuses on these new technologies will result in the necessity of less investment for prevention, consultations, tests and treatments.

Healthcare Technology Innovations To Keep An Eye On

This reasoning will provoke, in most health segments, a true transformation led by the current and future innovations. Some of them, such as telemedicine and artificial intelligence (AI), are already a reality in units in several countries around the world, but there are a few additional innovations to keep an eye on.

Biosensors and trackers

By comparing patient data to biological recognition materials, biosensors and trackers analyze health conditions, helping to detect diseases. In the United States, they have been used for a few years to monitor symptoms in patients with conditions such as hepatitis C and AIDS, in addition to measuring the rate of alcohol or oxygen in the blood.

Small and portable, this type of equipment has the potential to identify different pathologies, which makes the diagnostic faster and cheaper, which is helpful to speed up the diagnostic capabilities of any medical facility.

The way these devices are programmed is also an important subject, which is why software development for medical devices is a booming industry and, to do so, several sources of information can be harnessed, especially now that Big Data is also a hot and ever-growing niche in the world of technology.

Big Data

Connected databases are already used successfully by many Health Systems around the world. They bring together important information, allowing assessment and estimates that serve as the basis for prevention and tracking programs for pathologies and risk factors.

Another relevant application occurs in precision medicine, which aims to personalize treatments so that they become more effective. Big Data also allows the crossing of information to increase the sample size in scientific research on medicines and treatments.

3D Printing

It looks like a work of fiction, but manufacturers are already producing artificial organs to be used in human bodies. A good example is a novel pancreas capable of replacing the original organ, and without harming the patient. In fact, the pancreas designed and printed in 3D is able to improve the functioning of the body, eliminating diseases such as type 1 diabetes.

The disease is caused by a deficiency in insulin production. Therefore, implanting a pancreas with this capacity would solve the problem. In the coming years, the technology is expected to extend to other parts and organs of the body.

Blockchain

The usefulness of health databases is undeniable, but there are still barriers to reliability and allowing access to patient information. This framework should be overcome with the help of blockchain, a decentralized system for recording and archiving data. The technology involved in it does not allow users to change previously entered information, preserving the original records and increasing credibility.

By preventing database fraud, the blockchain will be able to support reliable patient records, eliminating the challenge of diagnoses and repetition of medical procedures. Another advantage will be the restriction of shared data, which may remain in the patient’s hands.

Conclusion

It is undeniable that the benefits brought by a wide array of technological innovations will keep being implemented in the healthcare technology industry, especially the ones that can help both the patients having an improved quality of living, but also the medical businesses thrive.

Investing in innovation in the health area is advantageous and adds value to any business from this market. With this in mind, clinics, offices or hospitals should analyze the added value that can originate from implementing these innovations and, as always when it comes to competition and technology, the sooner they do it, the better.

The post Healthcare technology trends: what the future holds for the field appeared first on ValueWalk.

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