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Medical Technology
A Layperson's View of Future Technology and Society
Future Medical Technology
Future medical technology breakthroughs will build from the incredible progress made in nanotechnology, biotechnology, computers, the information learned from deciphering the human genome and other scientific and technical areas.
Here are some of the futuristic medical devices and technologies that exist, are in development or are predicted. Predictions made by visitors are in green.
- Brain-computer interface
- Care giving robots
- Computer aided diagnosis
- Drug delivery devices
- Regenerative medicine, replacement organs
- Emotional/physical control devices
- Slowing or stopping aging
- Drug delivery devices
- Gene therapy/manipulation
- Home/self monitoring & diagnosis
- Minimally invasive procedures
- Molecular and genetic diagnostics
- Neural Stimulation
- Organ replacement / growing organs
- Personalized drugs
- Robotic surgery
- Bioengineered devices
- Virtual medicine
- Extended/eternal life
- Synthetic life
- Repairing/manipulating DNA
- Organ replacement / growing organs
- Designer babies / designer bodies
- Personalized drugs
- Gene therapy/manipulation
- Biostasis - Cryogenic sleep
- Human cloning
- Virtual/robot medicine
- Instant pain relief
- Biosensors - implanted or in clothing
- Bionic implants to allow for extreme strength
- Morphing of the human body
- Age reversal
- Creation of organisms
- Synthetic organs
- Enhanced senses
- Alteration of our bodies in superhuman ways
- Bionic limbs
- Use genes of other animals to implant in us
- Artificial immune system
- A capsule that can be swallowed which will cure all diseases
Living Longer
According to Google Public Data, a child born in the United States in 2008 can expect to live over 78 years. But some futurists believe that a child born today, might actually live forever.
Personalized Medicine
Pharmacogenomics is the study of how an individual's genetic inheritance affects the body's response to drugs. The term comes from the words pharmacology and genomics and is thus the intersection of pharmaceuticals and genetics.
Pharmacogenomics holds the promise that drugs might one day be tailor-made for individuals and adapted to each person's own genetic makeup. Environment, diet, age, lifestyle, and state of health all can influence a person's response to medicines, but understanding an individual's genetic makeup is thought to be the key to creating personalized drugs with greater efficacy and safety.
Babies Growing Outside the Womb
Artificial wombs are mechanisms that are used to grow an embryo outside of the body of a female. Could this be the future of reproduction for humans? Scientists at Cornell University have grown mice embryos in man-made, bubble shaped wombs.
Health Watch
The house call is back. Doctors can already gather your glucose from their gardens and check your liver from the links (though your butt may come after the putt). Remote medical monitoring will be commonplace in the future and it promises to benefit both physicians and patients by saving time and money.
Pandemic Research
Influenza viruses are classified as type A, B, or C based upon their protein composition. Type A viruses are found in many kinds of animals, including ducks, chickens, pigs, whales, and also in humans.
The type B virus widely circulates in humans. Type C has been found in humans, pigs, and dogs and causes mild respiratory infections, but does not spark epidemics. Type A influenza is the most frightening of the three. It is believed responsible for the global outbreaks of 1918, 1957 and 1968.
Can technology protect us from the flu?
Smart Pills
The SmartPill is an ingestible capsule that measures pressure, pH and temperature from within the entire GI tract and wirelessly transmits that information to a data receiver worn by the patient.
On sale, smart pill with edible microchip
Regenerative Medicine
Imagine a world where there is no donor organ shortage. Where victims of spinal cord injuries can walk, where weakened hearts are replaced. This is the long-term promise of regenerative medicine, a rapidly developing field with the potential to transform the treatment of human disease through the development of innovative new therapies that offer a faster, more complete recovery with significantly fewer side effects or risk of complications.
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Future of Medicine Articles, Blogs and Web Sites
All Links open in a new window. Bold = Recommended. Links do not imply endorsement.
I checked the links on this page on 10.08.11
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| 2020: A New Vision - A Future for Regenerative Medicine | U.S. Department of Health & Human Services |
| 3D Human Body Maps | HealthLine |
| Assisted-Walking Robots | Honda |
| Body Browser | |
| National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering | NIBIB |
| Description | Sources |
|---|---|
| Bionic Limbs -- Science of Innovation | NSF |
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