We have seen how technology has changed our day-to-day lives and now technology has revolutionized the healthcare industry. Technology has removed the obstacle to providing care to patients. The enhancement of technology in the healthcare industry has improved the quality of life by providing better diagnosis and management. And it has saved many lives.

Here are 5 examples of technology used for healthcare:

Wearable Technology

Wearable bands are used to check fitness status. These technologies track heart rate, steps taken, amount and quality of sleep, blood pressure and the ride pace. All of these help to achieve fitness goals and live a healthier life. Health wearable is used to detect cardiovascular problems earlier and helps in management and prevention. It also helps in knowing the risk factors for diseases and their prevention. With the advancement in technology, besides fitness wearables, there are devices to monitor vital statuses such as lung functions, heart rate, blood sugar level and oxygen level. They are also developed in tracking degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Connected inhalers are smart technological devices to track the usage and remind the dosage of inhalers in asthmatic patients. Other wearable devices known as wearable biosensors are used to monitor vital heart signs like heart rate and temperature to give greater insight, awareness and progression of the disease or illness to healthcare providers. Recently biosensors were used to detect covid-19 signs and symptoms and help in monitoring the disease.

Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual reality is a 3-dimensional image or environment generated by a computer that can interact with the person in a real or physical way through instruments or equipment.

Virtual reality is used for entertainment purposes. VR helps medical students in understanding human anatomy from a more visual perspective. VR is used for practising management purposes. It is used for operations by surgeons and this technology benefits patients in sense of relieving pain or for pain management. A woman in labour is given a VR headset to visualize soothing landscapes so she can get through the labour pain easily. It is observed that patient with gastrointestinal pain, cancer pain, cardiac, neurological and even post-surgical pain has reduced or relieved by giving a VR to distract them from the painful stimuli.

 A recent study has revealed that VR-trained surgeons had a 230% increase in their overall performance than traditionally-trained colleagues. Reference from “https://www.hunimed.eu/news/10-ways-technology-is-changing-healthcare/“.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI is a powerful tool used in the healthcare industry. It has enhanced the facilities of humans and machines for working together and reduces the time taken for a product to work or to form a product. With AI algorithms it is easier to plan management, design drugs and diagnose major diseases like cancer. And recently an AI is developed for the analysis and diagnosis of breast cancer which diagnoses breast cancer more rapidly and effectively than radiologists. AI designs drugs faster way than doctors or any other medical professional. AI technology has launched 2 drugs in 2015 to reduce the infectivity of the Ebola virus. Introducing AI in healthcare has provided more care to patients and helped in decision-making for diagnosis and treatments.

Medical Tricorder

With the rapid rise in healthcare technologies, a handheld portable device is formed known as a medical tricorder used to diagnose medical conditions within seconds and take basic vitals too. It is used to diagnose diseases, monitor health conditions and helps to know whether a person is healthy or not. A few of such gadgets are:

Viatom CheckMe Pro is used to measure temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and much more.

QuantuMDx Group is a handheld DNA lab used to analyze malaria.

BioSticker is another device used to measure different parameters like body position, sleep status, gait, respiratory rate, skin temperature, heart rate and much more.

Robotic surgery

Robotic surgeries are helping hand to surgeons that provide control and flexibility for the operation to the surgeon and made the surgeries easier and possible and in a more non-invasive way. A robotic surgical system consists of a camera arm and a mechanical arm. Surgeries done by robots are:

• Coronary artery bypass
• Gall bladder removal
• Hysterectomy
• Hip replacement
• Kidney removal
• Kidney transplant

Robotics is also used aid in nursing to assist patients with spinal cord injuries. Robotics are also used to fight loneliness for children suffering from chronic illnesses and mental illnesses.

Conclusion

Innovative technology has changed the landscape of the healthcare industry every year. There is an array of possibilities that our digital and technical field has for a medical world that would be introduced in future. These are the beginnings of technology in the healthcare industry and there is much more to launch for the curative, treatment and feasibility purposes of patients and to provide a better and long living life to individuals.