The 19 largest medical advances in 2019
Pills with drug sensors traveling on sound waves, it is the greatest medical advances we've seen in 2019.
When it comes tomedical progress, what we saw in 2019 might seem like it is any right of science fiction. A synthetic skin that allows the robots to "feel"? Drug adapted to match yourIndividual genes? Smart enough pillboxes to keep the tabs on whether or not you take your medicine? But they are not just ideas from the spirit of authors and Hollywood filmmakers; These are true scientific advancements about changing the world. Read it for more than the greatest medical advances in 2019 that will help us stay healthy in 2020 and beyond. Get ready to be amazed!
1 A new cerebral surgery tool has made it safer and more accurate.
In brain surgery, instrumentation is very important. Currently, in about nine percent of neurosurgies, the retractor-a tool used to help surgeons access the brain - causes accidental damage, such as cerebral swelling, haemorrhage or brain infarction. But recently, a team of undergraduate students from Johns Hopkins University has developed a new retractor that will make cerebral surgery more efficiently and safer.
Students, who are in the University's Biomedical Engineering Program, call for their inventionRadiant. It retains the cortical fabric with a new rounded design that better distributes stress. Not only that, but the entry point in the head can be smaller and the retractor can be adjusted during surgery. The invention has won the best honors in a competition held by theNational Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Biomedony And the approval of the FDA can come soon.
2 There are ultrasound machines that can connect your smartphone.
Ultrasonic machines are becoming more expensive, smaller and more connected, including a new version that will be connected to smartphones. The latest version of Butterfly Health, which received $ 250 million funding,will cost less than $ 2,000. "Possible result of storing, documenting and examining a cell phone, by the bedside, is a huge step forward,"Rachel Liu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine in Yale, said in a statement.
But ultrasonic machines are not the only narrowing technology: helped byEmerging Portable Magnet Technology, MRI machines can soon shrink enough to be worn by hand!
3 A new algorithm can help predict pancreas cancer.
The pancreas cancer is often discovered too late to be operational, but a new algorithm being developed by researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine can help doctors find it earlier. The algorithm, which is nicknamed Felix, will be programmed to understand how healthy pancreatic tissue differs from tumors or other anomalies. "Felix has a precision greater than 90% by 90% by picking up tumors on CT scans," "Elliot Fishman, MD, a researcher on the project, said in adeclaration. Hope is that Felix canFind early cancer By analyzing data from other routine and scan exams. A similar algorithm called "Tree"That means that the targeted real-time early warning system can also help identify SEPSI threatening life earlier.
4 There is a way to make faster and smarter vaccines.
In recent years, we have seen sudden bombs in devastating diseases around the world, including Zika in Brazil and Ebola in North Africa. But as the development of vaccines can traditionally years or decades, and they are often developed in isolation, researchers are looking for more intelligent ways to quickly develop remedies.
In a study published in the newspaperVaccines In June, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science in India and the ICAHN Medicine School in Mount Sinai in New York describe new ways that vaccines can be developed by analyzing and better understanding data world diseases. Essentially, they suggest that we use mathematical models to find vaccines rather than testing and error testing.
5 There are specific medical devices manufactured for individual patients, the courtesy of 3D printers.
The progress of 3D printing technology has enabled doctors to develop internal and external prostheses that more correspond to the exact organs of patients, according to theCleveland Clinic. The technology was used by the clinic in a recent complete transplant, but it was also used to customize more traditional procedures to patient organizations. In adeclarationThe clinic reported using 3D printing in "external prostheses, cranial / orthopedic implants and personalized air stents for diseases narrowing the respiratory tract". The regulation of 3D printed medical devices is still being established, but theFDAApproved some 3D printed objects for many uses, including surgical instruments and dental implants.
6 A holographic 3D navigation system can help surgery.
AtPromedica Innovations Summit Held in Toledo, Ohio, in November, the company showed Mediview XR, a system that helps doctors with surgery with holograms and 3D tips. Think of it as a navigation system for your organs. Surgeons can see 3D versions of your internal structures and their instruments in real time. "Three-dimensional perception and spatial understanding contributes not only to target and treat fabric, but to avoid other critical structures such as blood vessels",notedJeff Yanof, the co-inventor of the device, referring to "Mini GPS" for your body.
7 Robots can "feel", thanks to artificial nervous systems and synthetic skin.
The human body has tactile meaning, but now robots can have similar feelings, according to new research from the National University of Singapore. In a July study published inScientific roboticsThe researchers revealed that synthetic skins are electronic, which means that they have sensors that connect sensory information. These "skins" are twinned withArtificial nervous systems, which can interpret data from the sensors.
"Humans use our sense of the key to accomplish almost all the daily tasks, like picking up a cup of coffee or make a hand handle," one of the co-authors of the study,Benjamin Tee, says in adeclaration. "Similarly, robots must have a sense of contact in order to interact better with humans." The technology could be used for robots that work in case of disaster or even packing boxes in the warehouse, according to the study.
8 There is a tape of help with help that can communicate with machines.
Small metal spots on human skin can now contain enough electronic processing power so that they can be used to communicate with machines. These human interfaces of the machine, as indicated in the newspaperAdvance of scienceUse members of microscopic semiconductors, which are essentially computers in a band-aid.
The process is complicated, but to its core, the laptops detect movements or other actions of the carriers, and these allow machines to perform specific tasks. Depending on the search, the poles are "ultra-interstic, mechanically-imperceptible and extensible".
9 Medications can be introduced to the brain via sound waves.
One of the most difficult passages for medicine browsing the body is the blood-brain barrier, which maintains our central nervous systems free of intrusible pathogens - so far, that is to say. The research reported by the Massachusetts General Hospital explained how sound waves ofTargeted ultrasound(FUS) can basically open a small door for medicine to cross. Ultrasound use a frequency that is away from what our ears can hear. When they are lying, it can be harmful. But when targeted and used in short bursts, they can be capable of pushing specific pills through the blood-brain barrier by pulling pills.
10 There are pillboxes that keep tabs on you and your medications.
At the Medical Center of Johns Hopkins, researchers areTest pillboxesThis recording when patients take their medications and may include electronic recordings that detail when prescriptions were met by pharmacists. This means that doctors will be better able to see if specific patients follow orders, which will help them better prescribe drugs. According toWorld Economic ForumResearchers also experience pills containing sensors that transmit data to smartphones via a pattern on patient arms.
11 A blood test could detect breast cancer five years before the symptoms appear.
In November 2019, researchers at the University of Nottingham unveiled a blood test potentially detecting breast cancer up to five years before the symptoms appear. AtAnnual Conference of the National Cancer Research Institute In the United States, scientists explained that the test is looking for self-antibodies in the blood that the body produces in response to cancer cells.
"We could detect cancer with reasonable accuracy by identifying these self-antibodies in the blood"Daniyah Alfattani, a doctoral student who worked on the study, said in adeclaration. Although more work needs to be done, Alfattani and his team feel that the test could become available in about four to five years.
12 A prospective drug for Alzheimer could reduce cognitive decline.
On October 22, Boston Bason Labor Lab Biogen announced that they would seek an FDA approval for a combat drugAlzheimer's disease. "With such a devastating disease that affects tens of millions of people around the world, today's announcement is really encouraging in the fight against Alzheimer's disease"Michel Vounatsos, CEO in Biogen, says in adeclaration.
Studies on the drug, an antibody called Aducanumab, were initially suspended in March after early research providing poor results. But when the researchers re-evaluated the data of 2,066 patients with a complete treatment of 18 months, they found that the conducanumab can actually be the first therapy tocognitively decline.
13 Inhalers related to smartphones have reduced patients.
For people with chronic respiratory problems, inhalers save lives. AndHealth propellerA technical company based in Madison, Wisconsin, now produces an inhaler that is linked via a sensor to a smartphone application, where the respiratory data can be followed, analyzed and shared with your doctors or caregivers. In June 2019,Researchers of the Clinic of Cleveland released the first study of technology inThe Telemedicine and Realk Log. After following the use of the inhaler among participants for one year, the study revealed that the number of hospital trips per patient increased from 3.4 trips a year to 2.2.
14 Gene editing technology has more advanced.
What happens if doctors could take a strand of DNA, locate invasive viruses and basically "cut" infected strands? This is the promise of technology calledShort palindromic repetitions regularly grouped together, or Crispr for the court. Although it is always at the beginning of development, technology can change the DNA by adding, removing or modifying it, which can help scientists corrected genetic mutations and combat diseases.
15 Depression can be diagnosed via mobile phone use.
Mountain view, California, is home to many large technology companies, including Google. But there are also many technological startups there, includingMunicipal, a company that uses new technologies to constantly monitor the use of the smartphone to measure the mood of the user and othersMental health characteristics- without collecting specific user data such as texts or geolocation, according to areport. After observing schemes that may seem symptomatic depression or other mental health problems, technology can connect users withCertified health care providers. The key to technology is that it's objective and in progress, so any diagnosis is based on facts.
16 The missing or mutated genes can be replaced in the blood or bone marrow of a patient.
Diseases such as sickle are struggled by new uses of gene therapy. The "therapy"Is a technical and experimental process where stem cells are removed from the blood of a patient or bone marrow and new genes are added to the cells before replacement in the body. For the sickle, it would mean the addition to a gene that anyone with the disease is missing or replacing a mutated gene with a healthy copy, depending on theU.s. National Science Library. Once the cells are reintroduced, genes need to strengthen the production of anti-disease genes.
17 Science may have erupted peanut allergies.
The details of a pilot program directed by Stanford Medicine have been published in the journalJCI PECICACY In November, proving that there may be a cure for peanut allergies, or at least one way to make them less serious. Early tests were carried out on 20 participants who had severe peanut allergies: 15 were injected with Etokimab, an antibody that neutralizes allergic reactions in immune systems and 5 others received placebo. Among those who received the antibody, 73% could eat a peanut 15 days later. "We were surprised how long the effects of treatment lasted"Kari Nadeau, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics in Stanford, said in adeclaration. She notes that the results, which are still at their first step, could have considerable benefits to the battle.Other food allergies also.
18 The telehealth boom continued.
The days of need in personMeetings with doctors can be numbered. According to the study calledSize of the telemedicine market, sharing and forecasting 2019-2026 Posted in November, the industry should be worth $ 113.1 billion over the next five years. According toUS Hospital Association76% of US hospitals now use a form of telehealth, including videoconferencing with physicians and remote monitoring of health data.
19 Medicine can be based on genes, make it more precise than ever.
We all have different genetic and protein make-ups, so it is logical that medicine is possibly adapted to better interact with our individual bodies. The field of growth of Precision or personalized medicine This is enough, and also takes into account the way of life, the environment and other factors in the life of patients.
This new direction in science is a natural extension of the mapping of the human genome, which was Finished in 2003 . As the cost of mapping personal genes falls below $ 1,000 - the initial "draft" genome was estimated at $ 300 million According to the National Institute for Research of the Genome of Man - Obtaining your mapped genes can soon become a standard medical procedure.