Technology changes our everyday life. Making simple things easier bringing us more time and freedom. Although the value of the new app in the smartphone is much lower than the value brought by innovations implemented in science and medicine. The progress in health technologies is an incredible achievement that allowed to fight diseases, perform surgery with fewer fatalities, and improve the lives quality of suffered people curing them (or vaccinating) of those diseases which were fatal a few decades ago.
Just imagine that 150 years ago the majority of experienced doctors disregarded simple asepsis and disinfecting rules. The tomography diagnostics have been opened and implemented 50 years ago. The first experience of laser vision correction happened 40 years ago. Medical technology continuously progresses and brings significant advantages to us in many spheres.
Nowadays, surgery technology allows performing operations spending less time for them with fewer risks to patients’ health. The diagnostics became more precise, the majority of organs can be transplanted, and some of them even can be obtained via 3-D printers. A high number of urological and gastroenterological diseases are now treated much efficiently. It became possible to perform cardio and cataract surgery with high results, a low number of mistakes, and no harm to the organism.
So what are those healthcare trends existing in the 21st century, which able to make lives longer, and operations more resultative and less harmful?
Minimally Invasive Surgery
The purpose of any surgery technology is to minimize risks to the patient, make the rehabilitation period faster, exclude the pain component as part of recovery, and save or restore health at a maximum possible level. Minimally invasive surgery copes with these tasks in the best way. It allows performing surgery without cavity incisions but using either natural body holes or intervention via small incisions.
The process is simple but mainly because of the availability of modern tools and equipment. The micro camera is entered into the place of an operation via mini puncture holes together with lighting and ultrasonic equipment. The camera enlarges the picture and allows using of the ultrasonic scalpel or other tools precisely with no risk to injure the patient. At the same time equipment used allows to minimally affect the body just at those degrees allowing to resolve the initial issue and do not create new ones.
Main advantages of minimally invasive surgery technology:
- no cosmetology defects like big scars;
- comparatively low pain syndrome;
- extremely low risk of injury and infection;
- only a couple of days are required for convalescence and hospital discharge.
Possible operations with this medical technology:
- kidney and urinary tract stones;
- different gastro diseases, including ulcer, bowel’s problems;
- urological and gynecological problems;
- cardio surgery, and others.
Robotics
Surgical robots are not something new when it comes to healthcare trends, as the first one of them has been launched over 15 years ago. Through these years, there were many opportunities to improve and upgrade systems to achieve impressive results in surgery without human hands or to be more precise in words almost without. As the result, physical and psychological limitations inherent to people have been overcome. Now surgery can be done by robots and robotic equipment, which are managed by experienced doctors. Such an approach decreases the risk of mistakes and increases the precision level of the manipulations made to the body.
Moreover, health technologies allowed implementing an artificial intellect into the robotic surgery technology, thus now the doctor can see the same picture as robotic cameras managing them by own eyes (like in VR), do surgery via specific screens making robots do the same with the patients, and even feel the body reaction to manipulations for avoiding some negative undesirable outcomes.
Cataract Surgery
Today innovative health technologies came to not only kidney, stomach, intestines, urology, and gynecology diseases treatment. Cataract surgery has been also significantly improved within the past years. With modern lasers, it is possible to change the lens of the eye with an intraocular lens. Cataract surgery applying lasers allows turning the clouded lens of the eye into the emulsion and taking it away from the eye with minimal injury and further replacement. Thus, again, the main achievements are minimal pain syndrome, recovery period, and infection with the maximum safety and results for patients.
Prosthetics
Good-looking prosthesis, not a novelty nowadays. What has changed the lives of people who partially or fully lost their limbs is medical technology allowing having artificial limbs. While the previous versions served mostly as esthetical solution new tools allow getting back to the normal life with no limitations.
The innovation allows connecting muscles in the remaining part of the limb stump with the computers built in the prosthesis, thus the person can manage movements as usual and the prosthesis will react accordingly. It doesn’t require continuous wearing and can be applied any time the person needs it. It certainly makes life more comfortable and simpler.
Radiofrequency Ablation
Radiofrequency Ablation is one bright representative of modern healthcare trends. It can be applied for the treatment of neck or back pain, for fighting arrhythmia (although in such a case it is called radiofrequency catheter ablation), for treatment of tumors, in dermatology, and other areas.
The main principle of work is to affect suffering areas with heat produced by electrical current. It is applied in the following cases:
- To affect nerves causing pain and avoid the pain in the future;
- To affect the heart’s abnormal electrical pathways which are the common reason for cardiac arrhythmia;
- To cure skin lesions and varicose veins achieving high esthetical results;
- To fight hypertonia and obstructive sleep apnea;
- To fight Barrett’s esophagus;
- To affect tumors destructing them.
Summary
Scientists and doctors make everything possible to find effective methods of disease treatment even from those, which have been considered as inoperable or incurable. Making a huge step up in medical technology each year they give us opportunities we’ve never had and for which we are grateful.