As the world continues to globalize, healthcare and technology are becoming increasingly intertwined.
Today, health IT companies all over the world are spearheading pioneering concepts that aim to revolutionize the healthcare industry. Let’s take a look at five technology trends that are permeating healthcare in 2018 and beyond.
1. Robotic Surgery Gaining Traction
The future is already here: robotic surgery no longer confines itself to the imaginations of science fiction writers. Though the technology is still in an infancy stage, the robotics surgery industry is expected to grow by 18% from 2018 to 2025, surpassing $1 billion USD by 2020.
Robotic surgery proves itself valuable in complex procedures that require a high level of precision and control. Robotic devices that aid surgeons in performing the minimally invasive surgery rely on precision instrumentation, 3D HD imaging and dexterous robotic limbs, and the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning are spurring rapid growth.
2. AI-Powered Voice Assistants Help Access Health Advice
The fusion of voice technology with rules-based systems has produced an effective early-healthcare intervention system –Healthtap’s Doctor A.I is a prime example.
By utilizing Amazon’s Alexa and AI and EQ, Doctor AI uses advanced deep learning algorithms and a vast repository of doctor knowledge and data to provide doctor-sourced expertise, guiding patients to proper clinical treatments. Its capabilities include suggesting relevant doctor insights and information, connecting patients with doctors for virtual consultations, scheduling in-person consultations and directing the patient to more urgent care, if necessary.
3. Data Science Transforming Healthcare
Data science involves the collection and analysis of data through scientific method that facilitates predictive modeling and algorithmic decision-making processes. Having revolutionized the fintech (financial technologies) industry, data science is now doing the same to healthcare. Some use cases include diagnosis and prognosis, drug creation, genetic and genomics, management of patient data and virtual assistance.
Unfortunately, the processing power and memory capacity of desktop PCs are too limited to analyze large datasets. A better alternative is to leverage the exponential capabilities of cloud computing, whereby a network of powerful servers handles these intensive data crunching tasks. AWS is already using its cloud computing platform to help aggregate and distill millions of data points for genome sequencing.
4. Embedded IoT Medical Devices Going Mainstream
Embedded IoT (Internet of Things) medical devices are becoming more common in remotely monitoring patient health.
Embedded IoT devices store user details in the cloud, including symptoms, test results, prescription details and more. Some of these medical devices include airflow sensors, blood pressure sensors, ECG (electrocardiogram) sensors, glucometers and temperature sensors. Using these devices, healthcare specialists can easily detect and identify diseases from distant locations, as well as provide preventative care.
5. Telemedicine Alleviates ER Overcrowding
Hospitals often delay treatment to triage patients when there are physician shortages and overcrowded ERs. Fortunately, companies like EmOpti have developed comprehensive virtual care platforms to ensure that patients receive timely care.
This platform allows doctors and physicians to examine patients remotely with the assistance of secure video-conferencing links and on-site triage nurses. These patients no longer have to wait for examinations, tests and prescriptions.
More companies are developing their own telemedicine platforms, which should become commonplace soon. The success of these platforms largely depends on the security of their networks and the implementation of machine learning.
Bottom Line
Because of technological advancements, healthcare is progressing leaps and bounds in a direction that’s making it more accessible, especially for patients in remote areas. AI and machine learning are key drivers of this digital transformation, but these applications require the data crunching power of cloud servers and scalability of SD-WAN, while voice, video, and patient data require reliable and secure bare-metal networks.
Does your organization require constant network connectivity for data-intensive health applications? Contact Zenlayer to discover how we can help.
