Seeing a doctor used to be a frustrating affair in past.
Back then, there was no such thing as Grab or Uber. Not only is your illness taking its toll on you while you wait for a taxi, but the Singapore weather can be merciless too.
When you finally get to the clinic or hospital, that’s where the gamble begins. Will your visit be done in 5mins or 4 hours? Nobody knows. Meanwhile, you wonder if staying home to rest was the better option.
Transformations in technology are now allowing doctors to measure your vital signs and track your recovery without being there physically. Thanks to computer nerds whizzes, technology is constantly redefining healthcare. This has translated to people living longer, better and safer. Not only can treatment be more effective, but diseases are also more preventable today.
1. Search engine optimisation (SEO)
Internet search engines have allowed for increasing proliferation of knowledge once stowed away in the most brilliant of minds. Today, you can find every kind of information out there with just one click.
(I received more than 2.5 billion search results in under 1 second.)
in 2019, a Pew Research study revealed that 80% of the more than 3.4 billion internet users have used the web to look for health information. Google, along with other search engines, is amazingly intuitive and intelligent thanks to its ability to collect colossal amounts of data. The more Google knows about its users and your website, the more it will feature you.
But don't just sit back and leave it to the computer geniuses. Like going out on a date, your love life is not going to be very successful if your partner knows nothing about you. How then do you beat the SEO game? Well, that will be for another post.
FYI, our team at Human uses our magical abilities in SEO to get health information to an interested audience. Many of our articles are recognised by Google to be relevant enough to rank on page 1 or search results. It's pretty cool!
2. Artificial intelligence (AI)
Gone are the days when lab results take forever to return. Thanks to AI implementation in today's medicine, you can now
- receive your results much faster,
- make better-informed decisions quicker,
- prevent diseases earlier, and
- be prescribed more effective treatment.
(Just imagine what can an AI like a friendlier version of Skynet do for healthcare!)
(Source: Terminator film series.)
AI and computer learning have been shown to analyse body scans much faster than experienced radiologists -- up to 150 times faster. In as short as 1.2 seconds, they can provide your doctors with accurate information about what's happening in your body. From days and weeks of waiting for lab results to mere seconds, AI has surely allowed for giant strides in radiology.
AI has also been enlisted in other areas of medicine. In pharmaceuticals, AI can shorten trial periods and help create more effective drugs, among other up-sides.
3. Blockchain
One of the questions that show up on Human repeatedly goes something like,
"After getting treatment from Dr ABC, can I change doctors for future treatment?"
The answer is generally a "yes", but gathering all your medical files and history can be incredibly frustrating. If you have missing files, it might be better off to just start over with your new doctor.
The idea of a secure chain of blocks surfaced in 1991. However, it was only until 2008 that the modern blockchain concept was created by a mysterious entity -- Satoshi Nakamoto. Initially used as an alternative digital currency, different industries have created new uses for this technology.
What is a blockchain?
Basically, a blockchain refers to a growing list of records (blocks) that are linked using cryptography. Each block contains data such as timestamps and records of transactions. Modifying data in blockchains is extremely difficult, if not impossible. This is why it has been touted to be a good way to record interactions between two parties in an effective, permanent and accurate manner.
With blockchain, patients and healthcare providers can record medical histories accurately, free from tamper and readily accessible.
4. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
This is probably where the nerds at gaming tech companies are well ahead of the curve. It's 2020 and people have already been talking about finding love in the digital world while it's only just getting started in medicine.
But, it is better late than never.
In recent years, doctors have been using AR to practise high-stakes and complicated procedures, like heart surgeries, using 3D models. That is obviously good for both patients and surgeons -- no lives in danger and no lawsuits waiting to be filed!
Beyond using AR and VR to visualise surgeries, they have been employed to help patients with Alzheimer's and dementia, too, by helping them relive past experiences to retrieve their lost memories.
Watch this video by the University of Basel on how doctors use VR in medicine:
Who says gaming is a waste of time?
5. Digital twin
No, no one is overtaking your identity. Digital twinning refers to creating an alternate you to take the rap as a digital scapegoat before they treat you in real life. Sounds like something out of an episode of Black Mirror, doesn't it?
Healthcare providers and drug manufacturers use computer systems to create replicas of you digitally. Your digital twin, made using your medical profile, allows them to safely test treatments and collect information. This allows medical professionals to test the what-ifs.
As we advance in machine learning and AI technologies, scientists can create digital twins that are more capable of representing the real you, allowing your doctor to gain more information about treatments and improve medical procedures.
6. Health wearables
Tech wearables are not only here to stay, but as they get smaller and more portable, they become more and more integrated into our way of life. Watches used to only tell time, but now, they not only have GPS to tell us our locations, but they can also take our vital signs and upload our data to the internet!
Sure, this technology is not THAT new, but its usability in healthcare is expanding. In the past, if you needed to get your vital signs checked, you will have to go to the doctor. Today, your smartwatch can already do that, though we have not come to a point where appointments with your doctor are completely replaced.
Examples of such wearables include:
- Fitness trackers, such as the FitBit: you cannot lie to your doctor about your physical activity now. Your doctor can use it to track your activity levels e.g. in cases of weight-related and cardiovascular diseases.
- Smartwatches can now take certain vital signs such as heart rhythms and pulse rate. Certain apps can alert you to see a doctor when you are experiencing strange heart rhythms.
- Wearable ECG monitors may not be able to do much for you while you are out and about, but being able to detect and alert you of potential heart problems can mean you can seek medical help early.
- Wearable BP monitors. In 2019, Omron launched the world's first BP monitor, called HeartGuide, that you can wear on your arm. With its app HeartGuide, you can track and share data with your doctor.
The use of wearables in healthcare will continue to grow as technological advancements create new possibilities, especially in preventative medicine.