From MRIs that spot health problems in the body before symptoms develop, to cancer blood tests that screen over 50 different kinds of cancer simultaneously, these latest medical treatments are changing the way we think about healthcare. Pine Cone Sherwood Park is one of the medical institutions that aims to evolve with the changing times by keeping up-to-date with medical innovations.
Precision medicine, in particular, uses personalised medicines that attack tumours based on the individual genetic make-up of each patient. This enables the drugs to target them more efficiently and destroy them more easily.
3D Printing
As one of the latest innovations in medical treatments, 3D printing is used to create prosthetics and implants, anatomical models and drug delivery devices. Increasingly, 3D printing is also being used in the industrial goods sector for rapid prototyping.
With the rise of digitalization, many industries are now using 3D printing technology to stay agile and responsive. For example, industrial OEMs are using 3D printing to manufacture machinery components and tooling that would have otherwise taken months to complete.
A new trend in drug production is the use of additive manufacturing to produce personalized medicines that are specifically tailored for each individual patient. This method is a great way to reduce the costs of treatment, improve patient outcomes and eliminate waste.
In the pharmaceutical industry, many companies are leveraging 3D printing to produce drugs with custom shapes, flavors, dosages and release profiles. For example, FabRx, an innovative healthcare company, has developed customizable Printlets — medicines with Braille and moon patterns for visually impaired patients as well as Polypills that combine several drugs in one pill.
Another exciting application for medical 3D printing is tissue fabrication. Researchers are now creating 3D printed organs that mimic the structure and function of our real organs. This could provide a solution to the lack of organ donors in some countries.
To make this possible, they use a bioprinting process that uses light to create hydrogels layer by layer. This process is a relatively inexpensive alternative to tissue engineering, and could allow doctors to quickly make complex 3D structures that can be used for drug research or in the clinic.
Recently, a team of scientists from Rice University in the United States created the first proof of concept for a 3D printed lung. This technology was able to reproduce the complex structure of a human lung using Stereolithography apparatus for tissue engineering and bioprinting.
In addition to tissues and organs, 3D printing is being used in the dental field to create prosthetics and implants. For example, an 83-year-old woman in the Netherlands was able to have a jaw reconstruction made with titanium powder and bioceramic coating. This technique is less risky than a traditional dental procedure.
Bio-Printing
One of the latest innovations in medical treatments is bio-printing. This type of printing uses a computer-guided pipette to layer living cells, known as bio-inks, on top of one another to create artificial tissue in the lab. This type of printing is being used for research purposes as well as to make cheaper alternatives to human organ transplants.
The idea of 3D-printed body parts usually conjures up images of mad scientists in their labs, but the field of regenerative medicine is actually making real progress. The technology is being used to help doctors repair damaged tissues and organs, including cartilage for knees and skin for burn victims.
Bio-printing has also been used to test new drugs for cancer and other diseases. These tests allow scientists to see how different chemicals interact with each other, which can lead to more personalized treatment options and fewer side effects for patients.
To date, most vaccines and therapeutics have been developed through traditional methods that take a long time to go from discovery to commercialization. However, rapid development of new medicines is essential to fight emerging diseases and prevent infectious diseases.
The latest innovations in medical treatments focus on speeding up the development of these products and making them more effective. This includes introducing more effective vaccine platforms and therapeutics as well as integrating these products into relevant delivery systems.
Currently, the most effective vaccines include whole-pathogen vaccines, subunit/conjugate vaccines, and nucleic acid vaccines. This is because these platforms elicit the immune system to attack the target pathogen. Vaccines are not only the most effective approach for treating infectious diseases but are also relatively inexpensive, especially compared to other treatments.
Scientists are also working on 3D-printed bone replacements that replace the scaffold of damaged bones with adult human stem cells that can grow into almost any tissue type. This will enable people to have stronger bones that won’t break as easily.
Other forms of bioprinting can be used to help develop new drugs and medications. These tests can be done non-invasively so researchers can collect data on how certain drugs affect the body without having to use a patient’s blood. These tests can also help scientists understand how different drugs interact with each other and their effect on the body’s natural processes.
Virtual Reality
One of the latest innovations in medical treatments is virtual reality. It’s a computer-generated technology that replaces the outside world with a VR world, which can be used to help patients understand their health condition or prepare for surgery.
It’s also used as part of therapy, such as to train children with autism in social and coping skills. It can also be used to assist in treating disorders such as anxiety or schizophrenia.
While some people get “cybersickness,” the nausea that’s similar to motion sickness, most can use VR without issues. Better, faster hardware and software mean that this problem is rarer now than it was in the past.
Some doctors have found that virtual environments can speed rehabilitation for patients with a variety of ailments, including strokes, Parkinson’s disease, and injuries. In these situations, patients can be rehabilitated more quickly by using a VR environment that helps them to move around and feel safer.
Other applications include surgical preparation, patient education, and research. For example, a company called Osso VR uses virtual reality to train surgeons on complex surgeries that they wouldn’t normally have access to in an academic setting.
Another company, Surgical Theater, adapts MRIs and other 2D medical imaging techniques into a 3D model that surgeons can explore to plan a procedure or update patients on the process. This can help them to be more confident and make a smoother operation.
Researchers have also used virtual reality to train patients with chronic pain. The technology can help them to manage their symptoms and decrease the amount of medication they’re taking.
In other cases, VR has been used to help kids with brain injuries. The technology allows them to view their brains and tumors in 3-D, easing their fears.
It also helps them to learn how to interact with a doctor. In addition, it can be used to teach people with dementia how to communicate more effectively.
There are many other applications of virtual reality in healthcare, and it’s expected to continue growing. It could be a great way to enhance healthcare in the future.
Artificial Intelligence
One of the latest innovations in medical treatments is artificial intelligence, a technology that uses algorithms to perform tasks in a more efficient and precise way. It has the potential to improve workflows and operations, assist patients, physicians and other medical professionals, and provide faster and more accurate answers to health-related questions.
AI systems are able to learn from experience, re-evaluate their performance and adapt to changing circumstances and the needs of their users. It also helps people manage their health in a more proactive manner, giving them more control over their treatment and care.
Healthcare providers can use AI to help them identify patients with specific diseases, develop personalized treatment plans, and recommend medications based on their unique history, preferences, economic constraints, and other factors. However, AI systems must be carefully supervised to ensure that they do not cause harm to patients or lead to inaccurate predictions of disease or treatments.
For instance, AI systems can detect cancer more accurately and at earlier stages by comparing and analyzing images and scans of patient’s bodies. It can also aid in detecting harmful bacteria and other toxins that could lead to serious infections and even death.
In order to improve the accuracy of these AI systems, clinicians must work closely with data scientists and other experts in the field. This process requires data collection, data analysis and model training.
The data must be representative, and the models need to be trained on a range of different samples and images. This process can be complicated and lead to biases in the results. This is especially true for radiographic studies, where varying resolution and other factors can influence the accuracy of the results.
This is also true for drug research and discovery, where a wide range of drugs and their dosages must be analyzed to determine which ones are most effective. The process can be tedious and expensive, and it can take years to find a successful drug and its optimal dosage.
Luckily, healthcare entrepreneurs are working hard to overcome these challenges and bring AI systems to the marketplace in ways that will benefit patients and their doctors. Using seven business model archetypes, these entrepreneurs are leveraging the power of AI to better diagnose illnesses and prescribe medicines.
