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How MedTech Is Revolutionizing The Healthcare Industry
From Internet of things – IoT and smart homes to driverless cars and wireless charging, 2017 is supposed to be a big year for technology. But we still don’t see cars driving themselves down the highway, and most of us still have to physically plug in our phones to charge at night. A lot of the buzzwords used in tech today revolve around technology that’s still to come. However, there is one sector in the tech world that has made huge strides in 2017: Medical Technology. While Medtech might not be as catchy as robotic butlers or virtual reality, there are companies making huge advances in healthcare that will inevitably impact the way we live our lives in a much bigger way than AI powered light switches could. From hospital tech and wearables to mobile apps and social networks, check out the ways medical technology is revolutionizing the healthcare industry.
Hospitals
It makes sense that one of the biggest ways MedTech has affected our lives in 2017 has started in hospitals. We’ve come a long way since the invention of your typical heart monitor or IV drips. Now inventions which were once considered novelties, like high-tech cardiac sensors or a chip embedded in a pill that knows the exact moment to activate, are quickly becoming mainstream.
Some companies are working towards making the healthcare industry more efficient and user-friendly. Anyone who has ever had to get a CT, X-Ray or other medical scan knows how painstaking the process can be. First, there’s the scan itself and then the waiting period for a radiologist to interpret it; which depending on the seriousness of your condition, can feel like an eternity. The demand for medical imaging services has been steadily outpacing the supply of radiologists, which means longer waiting periods like these.
Zebra
Zebra Medical Vision was founded to help patients receive better, more accurate medical care by using the most advanced machine learning and computer vision tools available. Using patient data, Zebra’s has developed algorithms capable of reading medical scans and analyzing bone health, cardiovascular analysis, liver and lung indications.
Other companies are working towards reducing the risk of common accidents and life-threatening complications. One of the scariest places in hospitals is the ICU. It is called an intensive care unit for a reason.
ART MEDICAL
ART MEDICAL, a Medtech company, hopes to bring some peace of mind to patients who find themselves in the ICU. The company has created smart medical tubes with sensors that are able to reduce life-threatening complications, such as gastric reflux, pneumonia, and kidney failure. The smart tubes are able to identify issues before they arise, collect patient data, and monitor continuously for abnormalities. The sensors prevent life threatening complications by recognizing the problem and immediately adapting to the patient’s needs. These new technological innovations will not only change how and where healthcare is provided, but will also enable doctors to provide the best care possible to patients.
Wearables
Oh, the wonderful world of wearables. Wearables dominated 2016, and now well into 2017, we can find a wearable for almost everything. There are wearables for pregnancy and fitness, and even wearables for your dogs! Because wearables are able to monitor bodily activity, such as heart rate or blood pressure, it makes sense that the MedTech revolution has affected wearables heavily in 2017. But health wearables don’t stop there. There’s a wearable on the market now that can get rid of period pain, something which basically affects 50% of the world’s population.
Livia
Livia, also known as the off switch for menstrual cramps, is a discrete wearable device that is used during menstruation to organically block pain receptors through electrical stimulation. Livia aims to help the countless women all over the world who suffer from severe cramps every day. The tiny wearable is extremely user-friendly, portable, and acts as a natural alternative to painkillers.
This is just one of the ways that MedTech wearables are changing our lives in ways we never thought possible!
Mobile Apps
Yes, medical technology has even permeated in the mobile app world. There are the basics, like calorie counters and sleep tracking apps. But these are just the fundamentals when it comes to how much Medtech has been popping up across mobile apps in 2017. There have been many ways in which mobile apps showcase Medtech technology that goes beyond just fitness guides.
Nutrino
Until now, the field of nutrition didn’t acknowledge the simple fact that we’re all different. Why “until now”? Because now there’s Nutrino. Nutrino scientifically determines the best foods for you as an individual. It takes into account your lifestyle, your health goals, your food preferences and eating habits, everything that makes you, you.
It pulls in data collected by wearables and select medical devices to get to know you even better and creates a specific FoodPrint unique to you. Then it takes all this information to devise the best food choices for you. Nutrino even helps you make whatever changes you have to make to put these suggestions into effect.
Belong
Medtech apps sometimes focus on things we often don’t like to talk about. Belong, for example, offers a user-friendly treatment management app for cancer patients. The app has several features that help make patients’ lives easier: a folder where they can scan and store appointments, test results and other paperwork, a “family” where they can keep their loved ones and even their attending physician up to date on their progress, and a collection of forums and chats where they can share experiences and knowledge with fellow patients and chat with oncologists and other medical professionals. Medtech mobile apps that center around Medtech are very important, as they have the ability to reach millions of people. One just has to simply visit the app store and download!
Online Interactive Platforms
Lastly, we have seen a big rise of medical and health online interactive platforms. Unlike mobile apps, a lot of these platforms offer a variety of features – from the ability to talk to medical experts to just browsing for easy and fun recipes.
Healthhunt
One such website is healthhunt, an interactive platform combining Buzzfeed-esque content creation, and actionable, shareable content, to raise awareness amongst users of daily well-being. The goal is to prevent users from becoming another statistic, as it is a digital community that allows each user to kick start a healthier lifestyle. The simple, yet engaging content provides tips and information regarding fitness, nutrition, beauty, and more from a wide range of health and wellness experts. Like healthhunt, many of these interactive platforms aim to disrupt the understanding of health, fitness, and self-care.
Medical and health technology is one of the few industries truly capable of affecting how we go about our everyday lives. From eliminating period pain to using machine learning to tell us when we are sick, medical tech has made huge advancements in 2017. Medical technology isn’t just limited to boring monitors in hospitals anymore, the industry has grown to encompass mobile apps, wearables, online platforms, and innovative hospital devices. And since the year is only halfway over, we can’t wait to see what comes next.
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The 2017 MedTech Impact Expo and Conference will be showcasing many of these innovative MedTech, BioTech, Device, Sensors, 3-D, VR, Augmented Reality and much more.
I had never heard of Livia! I think that there is something to help with cramps!