Medical advances have come a long way since the invention of Penicillin. Over the past year medical advances have dramatically tried to improve the overall health care system.
1. Electronic medical records – The medical records keeping system has tried to improve drastically by linking consumers, general practitioners, specialists, etc. This EMR system is being established to provide a digitized record keeping system in which a complete medical history can be utilized and shared on a patient, replacing the old paper based medical records.
2. Fibroid tumors are a medical condition that affects upwards of 40% of women in America. This condition triggers pelvic pain, heavy bleeding and complicates pregnancy. The “Doppler-guided uterine artery occlusion” is a new invasive approach to treating fibroids.
3. DTI is diffusion tensor imaging and is a new technology that allows neurologists a non invasive way to probe the part of the brain called white matter. This imaging technology advancement is also referred to as “Tractography”.
4. LESS or “laparoendoscopic single site surgery” which essentially takes a laparoscopic surgery to an new level by reducing the process to a small cut within the belly button. NOTES or “natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery” bypasses normal laparoscopic surgeries altogether. This type of surgery means a surgeon gets to a particular part through one of the body’s natural cavities such as the mouth.
5. New pandemics such as the Avian flu has caused for new strategies for creating vaccines. These strategies for vaccine development uses a mock version of the virus called a VLP or virus like particle and may offer a better solution to protect people against deadly infections and viruses.
6. Mitral Valve Regurgitation Repair uses a tiny wishbone device in which the heart is fixed non surgically from the inside out. A catheter is carefully maneuvered through the femoral vein up to the heart’s mitral valves. The tip of the catheter is then clamped on the center of the valve leaflets which holds them together and restores normal blood flow.
7. A multi-spectral imaging system is attached to a microscope whereabouts researchers can stain up to four proteins using different colors. They can then look at the tissue samples under multiple wavelengths allowing for accumulation of more information than has been presently available. This system will help researchers understand such medical issues as the signaling pathways in cancer cells.
8. DPS or “Diaphragm Pacing System” is where four electrodes are connected to the phrenic nerves on the diaphragm. The diaphragm wires are then run to a control box outside of the body where the electrodes can be stimulated by current. When it is not stimulated the diaphragm relaxes and air is exhaled out of the lungs.
9. Warm organ Perfusion is where once a heart becomes available for transplant this device recreates conditions within the body to keep the heart pumping for an extended amount of time such as 12 hours. At the present time the organs have only been able to be kept for just four hours without decay. This perfusion system is a master advancement on the old system and will ultimately save more lives.
10. Circulating Tumor Cell Technology is a blood test that measures tumor cells that have broken away from the existing tumor and entered the bloodstream. This technology has the ability to detect recurrent cancers sooner and also predict how well a current method of treatment is working along with the patients outcome.
References for this article include: Medadv.com and Healthcare-economist.com
