Foreseeing the Medical Health Care Future Ten Years from Now

Ten years isn't very long in the medical industry, but if I look at current medical technology projects and studies, and extend them into the future, I can made some predictions about developments ten years from now. One prediction I could make is that medical technology and science would stagnate with no developments, but this prediction is very unlikely. The reason is that although medical costs are increasing, the desire for a quality life and the cost of insuring workers is enough to warrant development.

Genetic Tests will Seek to Develop into Individually and Maybe Genetically Targeted Medical Health Care

Genetic tests that predict people have a genetic marker that places them at risk for breast cancer is just one of the many tests that are likely to be developed; I expect the range of tests will grow. Already, scientists are noting that some medicines and vaccines don't work for certain people if not the reason why but they are speculating that genetics may be a source. Right now, our available knowledge has shown a weak correlation between genetic markers and predicted disease[1], however, when birth control pills first came out the dosage was extremely high compared to what is used now. An example of low correlation with genetic marker is in the case of alcoholism, yet many families like my own, have a history of alcoholism and related depression or schizophrenia, so a predictor could prevent family trauma by early counseling and disease targeted drugs.

Increasingly Sophisticated Human to Computer Interfaces for Prosthetics and Brain Damage

One of the recent developments by scientists was that human cells learn from electronic sources and eventually humans no longer require the electronic source to be able to do the behavior. This means that human cell to computer interfaces might only be needed for prosthetics. Many prosthetics are in development including replacement eyes, eyes for the blind, hearing devices for the deaf, and increasingly sophisticated prosthetic limbs. Read "Top Technological Advancements for 2009 " for more information.

Miniaturization of Testing Equipment and Robotic Support for Emergency, Remote, Battlefield and Hospital Use

One of the early applications of knowledge-based software development was in medical diagnostics. These databases of information based on a series of symptoms can aid emergency technicians in the field, too. NASA is an early example of the use of medical monitoring and the work there has spun off several robots, test equipment and monitoring systems, and remote medical treatment capabilities.[2][2A][2B][2C] Miniaturized Magnetic Resonance may also lead to the use by emergency medical technicians, especially in the case of spinal injuries [3][4]

Increasing Sensitivity to the Needs of an Aging Population

Well, doctors are supposedly learning it isn't wise to say, well, that's not unusual for someone your age. With the baby boomers in the US getting ready to retire, a large part of the population will be elderly than ever before. Big senior difficulties include dementia (recent treatments help restore abilities[5]), diminishing body functions i.e. diabetes, diminishing musculature and support, limited movement, hearing and eyesight difficulties and of course beauty treatments. Expect more senior targeted medical health capabilities. Read "Recent Technology Advancements Provide Quality Aids for Senior Citizens" for more some recent technology.

Automated Drug Recycling and Dispensing

Currently prescription drugs come in many forms including many shapes of pills, injections, capsules, caplets, liquids, inhalants, and patches. Yet, we have equipment that can scan for the chemical composition of liquids and solids so it's not that far-fetched that we could see recycling of drugs that are scanned for any compositional change i.e. degradation or poisoning[6]. Due to many drugs showing up in the water tables, dumping of medicines into the toilet could be prevented by such a program[7]. The cost would likely be expensive but my patches come in sealed containers and I've had changes in their dosage and the product type over the years that made the previous medication unneeded and San Francisco recently proposed an ordinance requiring safe prescription drug disposal.[8]

Medical Computation will Lead to Standardization of Treatment and Treatment Information and Treatment Quality

When we went to India fifteen years ago, the guidebooks warned to not forget your medications as they might not be available, so of course my father-in-law forgot his high blood pressure medicine. The good news was after a two day wait, the medication was waiting for his use. Already, information is shared around the world, but it takes time to get everyone in sync. In China, when we came down with bronchitis, they had a German manufactured lemon oil based pill that was the best cough medicine I had ever had, but its not available in the US. Treatment quality might be a fools dream but when we visited the Masai in Tanzania, I wished desperately that they had toothbrushes-loss of teeth is directly related to how long a person may live. Medical computation covers everything from product testing, test results, product documentations, and disease knowledge.

Nanotech Drug Delivery Systems that Minimize or Isolate Impact of Treatment

Cancerous tumors, glands, lungs, the human spine, hands, feet, and eyes are all difficult to operate upon. Studies show that minimally invasive treatments reduce recovery and prolong health and avoid chances of hospital induced illnesses like pneumonia. The robots mentioned above as well as laser surgery techniques have reduced incision sizes and therefore damage to tissues ( I had laser laparoscopy surgery with an incision of about an inch compared to the six inches my mother endured). Nanotech follows the same route, except using smaller than microscopic agents to deliver drugs with coded knowledge. Work is progressing and in use for on cancer, it will be interesting to see the results for arthritis. [9]

[1]http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/25/5/1281.full

[2]"NASA Spinoffs Bringing Space Down to Earth", TheSpacePlace.com, http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html
[2A]"A Robot to Make the Rounds", NASA, http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Spinoff2006/hm_2.html

[2B]SRI.com Robotics and Telemedical Presence, http://www.sri.com/robotics/telemedicine.html
[2C] "Space Proven Medical Monitor The Total Patient Care Package", NASA, http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Spinoff2006/hm_2.html

[3"]Miniaturization of Magnetic Resonance Microsystem Components for 3D Cell Imaging" http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=4242317
[4]Kim Pine, "Portable MRI Debuts at UCI Medical Center", UCI.edu, June 13, 2001, http://www.healthcare.uci.edu/news/releases/MagneVu.htm
[5] Lucy Bannerman, "Memory Restoration Breakthrough Offers Hope of Alzheimer's Treatments", Sunday Times, Jan. 30, 2008, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article3276098.ece
[6] Covalance.com, http://www.covance.com/products/nonclinical/pharmaceutical-analysis/index.php
[7]"Pharmaceuticals in Our Water Supplies", http://ag.arizona.edu/azwater/awr/july00/feature1.htm
[8 Barney Mitchell, "San Francisco Aims to Get the Drugs Out of Water if Big Pharms Let Them", Force Change, Feb 5, 2001, http://forcechange.com/2011/02/05/san-francisco-aims-to-get-drugs-out-of-water-if-drug-companies-let-them/
[9] Understanding Nano.com, ]http://www.understandingnano.com/medicine.html