As in many other sectors in society, technology in healthcare has been received with ambivalence amongst its consumers. And despite its significance in saving lives and improving wellbeing, there is the nagging concern that it may replace the need for human health practitioners and completely defeat an important aspect of medicine.
This is the art—of empathizing with patients and providing them emotional support on their journey to physical and psychological healing.
However, the innovations in technology so far portend the removal of monotony in the jobs of health practitioners, thus providing ample time to discharge personalized services to patients. It also promises breakthroughs for them in giving succor to the sick, and below are few examples of how it does.
1. 3D Printing
A few centuries ago, 2D printing technology in medicine might have been dismissed as the stuff of science fiction only. But fast forward to 2021, not only has advancement in technology-facilitated 3D printing but with iteration (one of the perks of technology), there is an encouraging hope that these products will become mainstream.
The products range from polypills, an innovation that allows the infusion of several prescribed drugs into a single pill to prosthetic limbs, orthopedic implants, and so on, printed for personalized health care.
2. Virtual reality
Virtual reality used to be associated almost exclusively with gaming and recreation and tourism. Today, it has found a market in the health sector which is, in turn, benefiting from the technology. By wearing headsets programmed with necessary audio and video output, patients needing rehabilitation after medical interventions or traumatic experiences can be introduced into a controlled alternate reality.
Virtual reality has also proven useful in distracting children taking shots by engaging them actively in interesting activities, making for quality treatment and recovery process. It is also highly recommended for medical training.
Here, medical procedures are simulated so that training doctors and nurses gain hands-on knowledge, make mistakes and learn from their mistakes while using virtual reality before they are faced with treating real humans.
3. Robotics
Robotics in medicine is good news for the high number of patients who stand to benefit from this technology. Exoskeletons, for example, are a kind of robot used in healthcare to support patients, such as those learning to use their limbs after a stroke.
When connected directly with the part of the brain responsible for movement, the patient can steer the robot to move in whatever direction they desire just by thinking it.
Although there’s no telling how soon in the decade its use will become a norm in hospitals and clinic due to the cost of these machines, it opens a vista of possibilities and strong hope that it may be very possible to have wheelchairs controlled by the brain in a couple of years from now.
4. Application/software development
Every day, software technology is integrated into healthcare, not only to facilitate/monitor the health of outpatients but also to improve the quality of life of the non-patient, to forestall the risk of medical emergencies.
The reputable Louisville healthcare software development company, for instance, develops intelligent applications that can interact with individuals and assist with health and fitness routines. In the nearest future, the journey to wellbeing will not begin with a visit to the hospital but with a tap on your mobile device.