Technology has changed almost all aspects of human life. It has brought convenience and ease of doing things that could not have been thought possible just two or three decades ago.
Businesses can reach their consumers and get an immediate response about their products through social media advertising. Individuals can communicate with friends and family thousands of miles away, and still feel like they are inches away.
Businesses are now able to manage their inventory through artificial intelligence and machine learning models. Companies have been able to reduce the number of employees by automating most of their processes.
The health industry has not also been left behind. Today, patient records and information are collected and stored using cloud technology. This means that doctors can now be able to expand their knowledge base through the access of such information remotely and give the required diagnosis.
This happens without requiring the patient to step foot in the doctor’s office. The rise of robotics and machine learning has enabled robots to perform surgeries that are less-invasive without the need for any form of human input.
Big data and predictive analytics have made it possible for doctors to analyze symptoms and signs that have been recorded within a specific locality and be able to predict the outbreak of diseases. In this article, we are going to discuss the impact of technological innovations in the healthcare industry.
Virtual reality
Virtual reality is transforming the lives of medical practitioners and patients around the globe. Shortly, patients will be able to watch how operations will be conducted on their bodies from the comfort of their homes.
Medical students will use virtual reality to perform surgeries through a simulation environment that feels like doing the real operation. This will produce doctors who are better trained and ready to deal with such medical conditions.
Through VR, the medical field can become so hypothetical it can give experiences of how it feels like to be an 80-year-old with all the old age conditions and visual impairment. Virtual reality can make this happen within just seven minutes.
Virtual reality developers are working to solve the disconnection between elderly patients and young doctors due to the significant age difference between them.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence, when combined with machine learning models, can redesign the healthcare industry completely.
Artificial intelligence-based algorithms can create drugs, design diagnosis and treatment plans and mine and analyze medical records faster as compared to any player in the healthcare sector or any doctor.
An AI startup known as Atoms makes use of very powerful computers to develop therapies from molecular structure databases. Just a year ago, the company launched a virtual search for medicines that were safe, and that could be re-engineered to treat the Ebola virus.
Medical researchers are also making use of AI to fasten the development of medicines and vaccines.
Medical sensors, wearables, and trackers
These devices have become essential in the collection of data from a patient on a real-time basis. The collected information is sent to a healthcare professional on a real-time basis for analysis.
Wearable devices such as Fitbit Surge for fitness tracking have become critical for patients who want to check on their cognitive abilities, stress level and weight management.
