Impact of new technologies and innovations in the healthcare industry

• Artificial Intelligence- is completely revolutionizing the way healthcare systems work. Through it’s innate ability to mine medical records, AI can devise treatment plans, fasten up the process of drug development, and even detect cancerous and non-cancerous tissue samples. Cumulatively the role of AI in healthcare can be attributed in the following use cases-
  Accurate cancer detection
  Early detection of fatal blood diseases
  Virtual health Assistance
  Targeted treatment
  Automation of redundant health tasks
• Virtual Reality- The use of virtual reality in healthcare is beneficial to both doctors and patients as it aids medical education in a simulated environment. According to Goldman Sachs Investment Research till 2025, healthcare will be among the top three industries to adopt VR. According to reports suggested by Accenture nearly 62% of the patients are likely to prefer virtual reality healthcare services as an alternative to traditional healthcare services owing to the use of VR in-
  Medical Education and Training
  Assistance in Surgery
  Pain Management
  Stroke Rehabilitation
  Physical Therapy
• Augmented Reality- As compared to VR, AR is more rooted in reality.It helps existing surgeons and practitioners better prepare for real-life surgeries and sharpen their capabilities. AR essentially works by integrating digital information into the user’s immediate environment in real-time through graphics, effects, text, sound, and touch feedback. Certain ground-breaking trends in the space of AR so far has been-
  Robotic Assisted Surgery
  Wound Care Management
  Seamless Hospital Navigation
  Access real-time patient records
  Physical therapy and rehabilitation
• Smart Health-trackers, wearables, and sensors- When we think about the future of healthcare we also think about the individual health empowerment that is spiked by the use of smart wearables. These smart wearables help us to know our health better and be in better control of it by aiding stress and weight management, planning diet and exercise routines, and improving the overall cognitive abilities. These tech-fuelled smart wearables focus on making the patients the point-of-care.
• Medical Tricorder- The medical tricorder is creating a big disruption in the healthcare industry by minimising the costs of expensive healthcare machines and long-waiting time. It’s a portable handheld scanner that checks the function of all vital organs by measuring the body temperature and heart rate within a few seconds. It primarily performs three functions sensing, recording and computing.Viatom CheckMe Pro, BioSticker are a few of the emerging palm sized gadgets that can track heart rate, temperature, ECG, oxygen saturation,activity levels, sleep status, gait and more.
• Medical Networking Applications- The impact of new technologies and innovations in the healthcare industry, is not only restricted to core medical applications but other tech-applications too that focus on the unification of the medical ecosystem. One such platform is Nushift Connect-India’s first networking platform, it works towards building a network of doctors by bringing them closer through connection building, collaboration, engagement and empowerment through learning, communication and referral management. With channels of communication improving among doctors, patient care is better personalised and treatment outcomes are more focused and fast-tracked

The advent of nanotechnology,3D printing, Robotics, blockchain, big data, drug development, and Genome Sequencing are the other significant milestones in the space of new medical innovation and technological advancement. The extent to which the impact of new technologies and innovations in the healthcare industry can go is unfathomable. As long as doctors and medical practitioners are open to adapt to the creation of the required infrastructure and systems, the digital transformation in healthcare is destined to grow on progressively.