Over the decade, we have seen some drastic changes of social behaviors and interactions since the introduction of smartphone. We constantly have access to internet and capability to talk, text to people we want, share posts on social media, check information instantly and watch videos of our choice. Smartphone provided us the ability to see visual information and control what we see in our hand. How have all these new developments of technology changed our health? Many companies come up with new accessories that you can wear to track activities and monitor your heartbeat and sleep. There are websites that we all can read about fitness, pharmaceutical effects, information, and illnesses. It has never been so convenient that there are millions videos shared on social media websites, which we can choose to watch and learn how to do yoga pose, stretch, exercise to improve our health. Many technological developments provided us better and convenient ways to improve our health. Historically, technological advancements and development of medical applications will affect medical industry. It will be beneficial to know what we should be expecting to see with these developments.
One of the technologies that contributed enhancement of people’s health was microscope. In 14th century, the components of a microscope were first developed and introduced in Italy. From then, over the centuries, new observations using microscope were published. In late 17th century, strands of bacteria were observed by Anton van Leeuwenhoek and it became popular among scientists, then allowed to observe specific bacteria and viruses to help develop targeted medicine to eradicate once known as deadly disease before (1).
In 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen discovered a new type of ray, and he immediately saw the huge potential of X-ray in healthcare (2). Although X-ray has more applications than just scanning the human body to identify fractures, it is one of the first technological discoveries that have revolutionized medical world. Even though X-ray is now recognized as risk-free procedures, there are still benefit from using the technology.
In the similar manner, computed tomography scan, as known as CT scan, is another type of imaging technology using the computerized data from X-rays to view the cross-sectional view of the human body. Since it is possible to get a 3-D view of the human body structure, it is often used to determine the severity of various cancer types. CT Scan is also used in emergency situations to diagnose internal bleeding, ruptures, and etc (3).
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology is one of the safest imaging technology among those introduced on this paper because it uses magnetic field and radio waves to formulate structural images. It may be more expensive option than the other technologies, however because MRI can analyze much more complex information, muscles, tendons, and other tissue types, it is considered to be used in diagnosing various heart disorders, injuries in brain, tears or damages in muscles or tendons, and etc (4).
These are just a few examples of how technologies especially in imaging industry that have helped development of healthcare, which helped improve overall quality of our health. These technologies have allowed us to observe far beyond the ability with our naked eyes and helped us to collect and process more information visually. What does the development of technology mean in today’s healthcare industry?
The invention of augmented reality and virtual reality (as known as AR & VR respectively) is not surprising news anymore, our society has not yet adapted to the use of these new technology to its fullest yet. Many companies such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Samsung, HTC invested heavily on virtual reality technology to be used in industry especially as a virtual world experience gadget.
Many health-related applications have been introduced, which can be used with these virtual experience gadgets.
- Random42 is an application that allows viewers to explorer in the virtual world of human body. Viewers are able to see real-life version of human cells and structures of body. They are able to see how organisms look, move, and function (5).
- BodyMap for beginner is another application that allows viewers to observe segments of human anatomy. The app has options for viewers to choose which area of body to view and they can select the different range of muscular and skeletal groups (5).
- 3D Organon VR Anatomy has similar idea as BodyMap for beginner but it has more features. The users are able to take a specific part of anatomy out of the virtual structure to organize them in their own way. In addition to the features, it displays explanation and name to each muscular skeletal part (5).
On a side note, Facebook has been investing on virtual reality and augmented reality technologies. Facebook has acquired Oculus, one of the leading VR technology companies, for $2 billion few years ago. In 2019, Facebook Oculus has announced a new product line that users are able to experience the virtual reality wirelessly (6). It is expected to see developments in the ways we interact with each other.
Augmented reality is another technology that allows people to see computerized graphic on top of our own vision. There are few concepts of applications using this technology in development especially for medial industry.
- Holo Lens Anatomy: This application allows the person with the HoloLens glasses to see 3-dimensional anatomy of eyes. The image is projected in front of the real view of human eyes and helpful to understand the structures and anatomy of eyes better.
- AccuVein: This augmentation device projects beam of light onto patient’s skin then displays the veins so that it is easy to identify where veins of the patient is located. This technology is useful to be used on patient with conditions that make the identification of veins harder with naked eyes or palpation.
- TouchSurgery: This application contains more than 150 surgery procedures that not only surgeons but also interns, and trainees can use and learn the surgery procedure on screen and even practice on it. The application has augmentation of human anatomy for each surgery then the user is able to perform and help master the skills and procedures (7).
It seems that there are no limit on the areas that can be applied with augmented reality. These new applications using these revolutionary technologies improve the medical industry every day.
There were many inventions in our recent history that improved the method to see and observe our world better such as microscope, x-ray, CT-scan, MRI, VR, and AR. The growth with the latest technologies is faster than what we have previously seen from one invention to the next invention. These new developments help us to discover new knowledge and help us learn in visually stimulating ways. Visual is one of the most important ways our generations use to entertain and learn. Our generations process visual information much better than text form information (8).
Perhaps,
these inventions were inevitable because of our desire to see things that were
considered impossible before. There is no doubt that all these technologies are
going to improve our visualization of the areas that our naked eyes were not
able to see and we can expect to see more visual developments in medical
industry that that can improve our lives.
References
- n.n., (n.d.) History of Microscopesy. Retrieved May 10, 2019, from https://www.microscope.com/education-center/microscopes-101/history-of-microscopes
- H. Thimbleby., (December 1, 2013) Technology and the future of healthcare. Retrieved May 10, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4147743/
- n.n., (n.d.) Computed Tomography. Retrieved May 12, 2019, from https://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/submenu.cfm?pg=ctscan
- n.n., (July 24, 2018) MRI Scans: Definition, uses, and procedure. Retrieved May 12, 2019, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146309.php
- n.n., (n.d.) VR in Healthcare. Retrieved May 14, 2019, from https://www.wearvr.com/collections/vr-healthcare
- n.n., (n.d.) Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Debuts the Oculus Quest. Retrieved May 14, 2019, from http://fortune.com/2018/09/26/facebook-oculus-quest/
- n.n., (April 03, 2018) 5 Superb Augmented Reality Healthcare Applications. Retrieved May 20, 2019, from https://www.augrealitypedia.com/augmented-reality-healthcare-applications/
- n.n. (January 01, 2017) Why Visuals Matter for Engaging Millennial Audiences. Retrieved May 24, 2019, from https://www.ethos3.com/2016/12/why-visuals-matter-for-engaging-millennial-audiences/
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