Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, extended reality and other blessings——
Five Technology Trends in Healthcare for 2022
In a recent report by the US "Forbes" biweekly website, it listed five technology trends in the field of healthcare in 2022: telemedicine, personalized medicine, genomics and wearable devices will usher in rapid growth. New and better therapies and services will be developed and delivered by further leveraging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, extended reality and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Wearables power telemedicine
Analysts at Deloitte said the proportion of telehealth consultations soared from 0.1% to 43.5% in the first few months of the Covid-19 outbreak, and will increase in the future for obvious reasons - a trend that promises to make more A chance for patients to be saved.
To achieve this, next-generation wearables are equipped with heart rate, pressure and blood oxygen detectors that allow doctors to accurately monitor patients' vital signs in real time.
During the epidemic, "virtual hospital wards" were established in some places. Doctors used the central communication infrastructure to monitor the treatment of patients in many places. The Pennsylvania Emergency Medicine Center in the United States is developing a more advanced version of "virtual emergency room".
In 2022, telemedicine approaches will expand into other areas, such as improving the mental health of patients and providing ongoing follow-up care for surgical and critically ill patients.
Robotics and the Internet of Things will play a major role in this trend, for example, smart technology (machine learning) will alert professionals when sensors detect the need for intervention or cameras detect a fall in the elderly at home.
Extended reality for clinical training and therapy
Virtual reality (VR) headsets are currently being used to train doctors to understand how the human body works.
VR is also being used in therapy, such as to train children with autism in social and life skills; and to promote cognitive behavioral therapy to help treat chronic pain, anxiety and even schizophrenia.
VR-based therapies have been developed to allow patients to overcome fear and treat psychosis in a safe and non-threatening environment.
2022年，增强现实技术在医疗领域的应用也将继续增长。如美国AccuVein公司的产品旨在通过检测血流的热信号并在患者手臂上突出显示，使医生和护士在需要注射时更容易定位静脉。微软公司的全息透镜系统被用于外科手术室，外科医生们可接收他们所看到物体的实时信息，并与其他可能正在观察手术的专业人员或学生分享他们的观点。
利用AI和机器学习理解医学数据
与在其他行业一样，AI在医疗保健领域发挥的重要作用包括理解大量杂乱、非结构化数据。这些数据包括X光、CT和MRI扫描等获得的数据、有关新冠等传染病疫苗分发的数据以及活细胞基因组数据，甚至医生手写的笔记等。
AI也可成为医生的好帮手，并提升他们的工作技能。如AI可对患者进行简单接触和分类，以便临床医生腾出时间开展更有价值的工作。而远程医疗服务提供商巴比伦健康公司使用人工智能聊天机器人，通过自然语言处理，收集患者的症状信息并直接向合适的医疗专业人员咨询。
未来几年，人工智能将对预防医学领域产生深远影响。预防医学不通过事后提供治疗来对疾病作出反应，而是预测疾病将在何时何地发生，并在疾病发生之前制定解决方案。这包括预测传染病暴发的地点、病患的再住院率以及饮食、锻炼、运动等生活方式因素。这些工具能够比传统分析过程更有效地发现巨大数据集中的模式，从而实现更准确地预测并最终改进疗效。
“数字孪生”取代动物试验
“数字孪生”目前正出现在多个领域，“数字孪生”指根据真实世界获得的数据创建一个数字模型，可用于模拟任何系统或过程。
在医疗领域，这一趋势包括对“虚拟患者”——那些测试药物和治疗的人进行数字模拟，目的是缩短新药从设计阶段进入通用阶段所需的时间。
As it stands, "digital twins" of human organs and systems are closer to reality, allowing doctors to explore the causes of disease in different organs and test treatments without the need for expensive human or animal testing.
The "Living Heart" project launched in the United States in 2014 aims to create an open-source "digital twin" of the human heart; a similar "Neural Twin" project in the European Union simulates the interaction of electric fields in the brain, hoping to provide Alzheimer's Disease brings new treatments.
Personalized Medicine and Genomics
Modern medical technologies, including genomics, AI, and “digital twins,” will allow doctors to take a more personalized approach, tailoring treatments to patients’ own conditions.
For example, the Empa Medical Center in Sweden uses AI and modeling software to predict the exact dose of pain medication for individual patients.
For chronic pain patients, the right amount of medication can be effective and improve their quality of life, but too high a dose can be extremely dangerous.
Novo Nordisk has partnered with digital health company Glooko to create a personalized diabetes monitoring tool that can provide patients with personalized recommendations on things like diet, exercise and disease management based on their blood sugar readings and other specific factors.
Genomics, the study of genes and the use of technology to map an individual's genome, is particularly useful for developing personalized medicine, which could lead to new treatments for diseases such as cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer's.