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Latest Technologies in healthcare

InnoHEALTH magazine digital team — Wed, 04 May 2022 03:42:32 +0000

My discussions here with some tech oriented doctors gave me the introspection that the field of medicine, healthcare and digital technology is going at a pace (now especially after over 2 years as there is a lull in the hospital with reduced number of emergencies associated with covid cases). While the hospitals are busy as usual, that urgent rush and emergencies have reduced, it seems, by almost 70% as compared to a situation just 6 months ago. Notwithstanding the above good situation, the impact of digital technology in the healthcare field is increasing at a fast pace. Today one can see a clear communication channel being established electronically between patients, hospitals, CV virtual consultation, pharmacies and health care insurance companies. One notices a speed in the interconnected ecosystem, thanks to the digital technology which is making its presence felt in the healthcare sector. Most countries in the western world and some in Asia are adapting advanced technologies in the healthcare sector. India is also doing its best to continue its tempo in digital healthcare. Some of the technological advances are briefly discussed in this article.

Today if any patient is visiting a hospital, they only need to give his health card at the reception of a hospital. He can already schedule an appointment with a doctor via his mobile app. Once the data is recorded, then the hospital digitally transfers the information and data of the patient on a real time basis to its billing section, doctor schedule section, and nearest pharmacy, the insurance company for billing and the aftercare department. All these happen at the time of entry of the patient’s data. Thereafter the patient is handed over a descriptive sheet with information regarding which doctor to visit, location in the hospital. During this time the consultation fee and other charges are already deducted, pharmacy payment is already done. So the walk-in patient after consulting the doctor goes straight to the designated pharmacy, picks up medicines and goes home.

This amount of development is done by digital technology in the healthcare sector currently. Many healthcare organizations are quick to adopt this cost effective digital technology not only for various medical devices, operation room equipment but also for billing, record keeping, accounting and communication to related stakeholders. The pharmacist informed me that in the use of electronic healthcare billing and records, she feels that a laptop to a doctor is as common as a stethoscope.

In the above process today, too much patient data is being created by the hospitals. One needs technology to improve data collection, segregation and compiling for ease of digital communication between doctors, patients, insurance and pharmacy and to ensure that data remains secure at all times.

So the latest technologies that can find use in the healthcare sector to manage patients’ electronic data being generated at speed. The answer is blockchain technology, Artificial intelligence (AI) tools and cloud technology.

So the latest technologies that can find use in the healthcare sector to manage patients’ electronic data being generated at speed. The answer is blockchain technology, Artificial intelligence (AI) tools and cloud technology. These technologies will certainly help improve work flows, streamline procedures, automate tasks and help open up new ecosystems involving hospitals, patients, insurance companies and pharmacies, by way of integrating all such related activities along with updating health records all at one go. Incorporation of the above technologies will improve the patient care and better management can be done on a timely basis.

Such a system will enable the hospitals and pharmacies dispensing medicines to automate most of their process online and in real time and enabling regular feedback to improve services and be cost effective at all stages.

Importance of patient’s health records:

Information integration at the hospital level, standardise and store patient information in a secure location. For starters, such a system will provide flexibility. Flexibility can be achieved by using telemedicine technology. Patients and doctors can seamlessly communicate. In addition, wearable devices will also provide data for doctors with better ways to evaluate the patient’s conditions and come up with more options to evaluate symptoms and take timely actions.

How will artificial intelligence assist the healthcare sector?

A stage will come when too much of patient data generation by various hospitals at various locations can become a landmine. AI enabled tools can shift through large and complex data generated from devices, hospital records, images, blood reports, etc to find a trend of patients undergoing treatment, come up with cost effective options, procedures and take timely clinical decisions to improve quality of experience provided to patients. Here comes the benefits of the blockchain technology which provides ledgers of unchanged data and thus secure the data provided to the patients and the consulting doctor.

A hybrid cloud environment will additionally offer various security features that can assist the sector with various report generation for regulatory agencies, State agencies, government agencies and procedure efficiencies.

Cloud technology works as an aid of the healthcare sector. When so much of technology is intertwined between patients, doctors and hospitals, a cloud environment most likely offers hospitals a chance to customize applications as per their specific reporting methods. Such records can help hospitals accounts departments to calculate costs, operational and financial efficiencies. A hybrid cloud environment will additionally offer various security features that can assist the sector with various report generation for regulatory agencies, State agencies, government agencies and procedure efficiencies.

There will be a five fold increase noticed in doctors appointments virtually and consultations. A great time saver. Lot of convenience will be provided to consult preferred doctors and healthcare workers and ambulance services. All such activities are enabled via laptop or mobile app. Overall, the digital health technology will make data availability easy, lower costs and will provide the doctors focus on the best line of treatment.

The conveniences are immense in adopting these new technologies for the healthcare sector. By this way, doctors can diagnose diseases with the help of medical imaging capabilities and improve their access and digital infrastructure. Basically a win win situation for the health care provider and the receiver.

Composed by: “Mr. Nanjundaiya Ramesh Kumar, is an international banker turned government Advisor, Professor and Global Ambassador with a deep interest in banking, communication, academics, technology integration in biomedical sciences and consulting. His forte is franchise promotion and exploring bilateral trade and investment avenues.”

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Indo-Danish Relationship in Healthcare

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Tue, 07 May 2019 10:12:36 +0000

Peter Taksøe-Jensen is the Danish Ambassador to India, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka, Nepal since August 2015. Prior to this, he served as the Ambassador to the United States from 2010–2015. He has worked in various areas of ministry which include the Security Policy Department, Legal Service, and the European Union Law Department and on various government commissions. Taksøe-Jensen obtained his law degree from the University of Copenhagen. Dr. Jasmeet Kaur interviews him on his viewpoint on the current scenario in healthcare.

Q. What are the updates for 2019 regarding Indo-Danish relationship in Healthcare?

The relationship between India and Denmark is becoming better each day. In December 2018, the Foreign Ministers of both the countries met in New Delhi and relaunched the Indo-Danish Joint Commission, which provides the framework for all strategic sectors’ cooperation including healthcare. This breakthrough paved the way for the Danish Prime Minister’s visit to India in January this year. Among other things, he participated in Vibrant Gujarat spearheading a Danish business delegation, where he also met with Prime Minister Modi. The purpose of these visits was to strengthen political and economic ties between India and Denmark because both countries will benefit tremendously from increased interaction and business collaboration. In this regard, healthcare is a key focus area for 2019. This decision is based on the success of two large projects in 2018; one is focused on non-communicable diseases and the other on attaining the SDGs within healthcare. We were able to develop concrete grounds for working in a focused manner in this field and assist Danish companies looking to gain a footing in India. Several Danish companies are already established in the Indian market including Novo Nordisk, Widex, Coloplast, Fertin, Falck and many more are expressing their interest.

Q. The Danish Health System is incorporating changes for good in recent past with new hospitals and other delivery mechanisms, can you share your viewpoint on the relevance of them to India?

The Danish health system is a publicly funded scheme, which covers all Danish citizens. There is a lot Denmark can contribute to India in terms of know-how and sharing of best practices. Areas where Denmark can assist India to include:

Digitalization of some solutions to address the challenges that exist in the current healthcare system. Denmark is a leader when it comes to digital workflows and working with electronic health records. Like in India, there are multiple stakeholders within the healthcare system (doctors, patients, nurses, local and state authorities, pharmacies, etc.) that are bound to work together but at the same time operate as individual entities as well. Denmark managed to achieve a high level of efficiency by digitalizing processes and thus, improve efficiency.

Digitalization has helped Denmark save both time and money. These learnings can be adopted in India to bring down costs in public as well as private set-ups.

Empowered its patients allowing them to access all relevant information about their health and well-being. I believe that the Indian government’s launch of Ayushman Bharat Scheme is also a move in a similar direction and with the similar intent of providing better healthcare access to all. Therefore, I see a great scope of collaboration and partnership between the two countries.

Other areas where Denmark has done exceptionally well is the use of Telemedicine for connecting patients in remote locations and reduce time at the hospitals.

The Danish hospital system is undergoing unprecedented expansion and restructuring. Denmark has spent years of research and gathered experts from all over the world to develop 5 new national super hospitals and renovating 11 existing hospitals. India can leverage this knowledge while it is at a stage where there are still new hospitals getting on.

Q. What can India offer to Denmark, your opinion?

One of the common areas of work between Denmark and India is dealing with NCDs. It is a global challenge. Denmark is currently investing a lot in developing solutions to address this global multifaceted issue. Our research environments, universities, and companies are trying to create products that could be suitable not only for Denmark but across the globe. One of the very specific things Denmark could explore is:

India has a lot of data available and Denmark could collaborate with India to develop solutions and therapies.

India is a bigger country with a much bigger amount of data; this can be utilized to further make the Danish healthcare sector more effective.

Furthermore, private players dominate the Indian healthcare sector, which has created different incentives and quicker implementation time. Both learnings from private players and data from India can be beneficial to the Danish healthcare sector.

Q. Any message for the readers of InnoHEALTH Magazine that you want to share?

Healthcare is a global challenge, and we need global solutions to attain the Sustainable Development Goals. Having in mind that 17 percent of the world population lives in India, it is safe to say that if India fails, the world will not succeed. Therefore, the strategic sector cooperation between Denmark and India is very important.

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Trending Innovations in Healthcare

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 10:34:17 +0000

1. Osteodetect

An AI-Based Diagnostic Tool Detects Wrist Fractures

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Imagen’s product ‘OsteoDetect’, an Artificial Intelligence-based diagnostic tool that can quickly detect distal radius wrist fractures is one of the latest products to get US FDA marketing clearance. Its machine learning algorithm studies 2 dimensional x-rays or radiographs for signs of fracture by analysing the posterior-anterior and medial-lateral x-ray images of adult wrists. Studies conducted on comparing fracture detection aided by OsteoDetect and certified orthopaedic surgeons showed that the readers’ ability to detect wrist fractures was improved by using the software as evident by greater sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values, compared with unaided standard clinical practice.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/27/fdaapproves- ai-wrist-fracture-detection/

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2. Alterego

A Device that Let’s Others Hear Words You Are Thinking

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Arnav Kapoor, an Indian-origin researcher at MIT, has developed a device named ALTEREGO that lets others hear words you are thinking without your making a sound. The product looks like a curved bone hooked to one ear that touches the jaw on the chin and under the lower lip which works by using ‘subvocalisations’ which are the tiny, imperceptible movements in the jaw each time you say a word in your mind. There are four sensors which pick up the signals and transmit them to a computer that has been trained to recognize and convert them back to words which are conveyed to the listener’s mind through bone conduction in the listener’s jawbone, instead of words being openly spoken and conveyed. With the use of Alterego’s technology, one could ask questions soundlessly and get a voice reply only in your ears. Presently the product has an accuracy of 92% which claims to keep improving with the exposure to more types of vibrations and words. Times of India

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3. Inito

New Portable Diagnostic Device: Affordable and Accessible

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A study undertaken by Dr. Satish Dubey at IIT Delhi has revealed a new portable diagnostic device which is developed by Inito, Bengaluru-based company that can do a dozen tests with the comfort of a person being at home. It has the advantage of reading dozens of diagnostic test strips with a 99.12% correlation when compared to lab grade scanners irrespective of the mobile phone used. This makes it a very reliable tool for portable diagnostics. The device uses patent-pending imaging technology called flat lens that allows a single portable device paired with a smartphone to conduct dozens of diagnostic tests with the same device. The first test that the company has launched is a fertility monitor targeted at couples trying to have a baby. Soon tests for Thyroid, Diabetes and Vitamin D will be added to the device. To add more tests to the device, you just need to update the App and order the strips for the user. Advantages of the device are that it is easy to use, portable, small size, affordable and also third-party strips can be added to the Inito platform by just an App upgrade. The device has won CII Design Award, India Design Mark and Japanese Good Design Award. The device is priced at INR 3195 and is available on Inito’s official website and Amazon. Soon the device will be made available at pharmacies. HT Team

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4. Paper Battery

An Indian Innovation Developed using Sewage Water

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An innovation by an Indian research scholar, Ramya Veerubhotla at IIT Kharagpur, is the development of a disposable and flexible battery made from paper that could generate power from the bacteria present in sewage water. The battery is made using air cathode and the anode can be made from any carbon-based material. The product is unique because it is very light in weight and the power generation starts within ten seconds, unlike other usual microbial fuel cells which take a couple of days to start power production as the bacteria need time to adjust to the environment. The capacity of power generated from one cell is in the range of a few microwatts. For more power production, one can stack and fold these cells together giving it a compact shape. This research recently received the First prize and a cash award of INR 10 lacs at KPIT Sparkle 2018. www.news18.com

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5. NakedLabs

World’s First Home Body Scanner

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The product Naked 3D Fitness Tracker is a health and fitness tool for people to track changes in their measurements, body fat percentage, lean mass, fat mass, circumference and overall shape. The start-up has recently raised a $14 million Series A led by Founders Fund. The device has two parts, first is a scale that has sensors and a computer and second being a weight scale that spins a person around so that the stationary mirror can grab the body scan of the user in about 15 seconds. Naked uses infrared light to capture your 3D body model which then gets visualised on the Naked App and alerts the user when there is progress being made by the user in terms of their fitness and also where there is potential for more work to be done. The device has an Intel x86 processor, RAM, 4GB DDR4 RAM and a 64GB SSD which makes it easy to beam the image directly from the device to the user’s phone. The depth data of the users’ body is not uploaded to the cloud instead is being handled on the device itself and also the resultant image is more of a TSA body scan image rather than a 3D avatar. A person can permanently delete the data from his phone if he/ she wishes to. Presently the device is priced at US$ 1395. www.techcrunch.com

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6. Wearable Sensor to Detect Stress Levels

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A group of researchers under the mentorship of Scientist Alberto Salleo at Stanford University has created a stretchy patch which when applied directly to the skin, takes up sweat and assesses the amount of cortisol the person is producing. This stretchy, rectangular sensor around a membrane/specifically binds only to cortisol but also detects charged ions like sodium or potassium present in our sweat. This patch has a waterproof layer that protects it from contamination. So far, a wearable prototype version has been made but if this is converted into reality it would be very easy to monitor salt imbalances in our bodies and reveal the emotional state of people who are under immense stress and do not open about their situation. The present methods for measuring cortisol levels requires several days of waiting for the lab results. This device seems to solve the waiting problem for the results and is user-friendly. All the user needs to do is to sweat enough to glisten the patch and connect it to a device for analysis which gives results in seconds. The researchers are still working on its reusability though the prototype seems to work multiple times so long as it is not saturated with sweat. A paper co-authored by Scott Keene and Andrew Marais of Stanford University and colleagues at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines in France about this wearable sensor was published in Science Advances on 20 July 2018. https://news.stanford. edu/2018/07/20/wearabledevice- measures -cortisol-sweat

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7. CustomFlex

World’s First Artificial Flex

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Iris is the part of the eye that is colored around the pupil and controls the amount of light entering the eye. It is found to be damaged in conditions like Aniridia in which people are born with a partial or missing iris or it could happen later in life due to traumatic injury or surgical removal due to melanoma. With patients of eye damage, the surgically implanted device known as the CustomFlex Artificial Iris is a boon. Recently this prosthetic iris has got the US FDA approval. The CustomFlex Iris is surgically inserted and held in place either by sutures or eye’s anatomical structures. This iris is made of thin, foldable medical grade silicon and is custom-fitted and colored for each patient. A study of nearly 400 adults and children with Aniridia or other iris defects found that the device was safe and effective, with 70% of participants reporting significant decreases in light sensitivity and glare, as well as improvement in health-related quality of life. The study also found low rates of adverse side effects. As per FDA, the artificial iris is contradicted in patients who have uncontrolled or severe chronic inflammation, abnormally small size of eyes, untreated chronic glaucoma, cataract caused by the rubella virus, abnormal blood vessels on the iris, inner eye infections and certain kind of damaged blood vessels in the retina. Also, pregnant women cannot be its takers.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news /fda-approves-first-artificial-iris/

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8. Smart Bandage to Monitor Wounds and Dispense Drugs Made

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Sonskusale has recently developed a first of its kind ‘sense-then-respond’ smart bandage which uses sensors to detect subtle biomarkers that signal wound healing. The device has a microprocessor to read the data captured by the sensors, communicate with the mobile and also can direct the bandage to release medication if it is needed. It takes into account things like sensing whether the wound is getting enough oxygen, right pH level is there, what is the temperature near the wound and is there any inflammation? All this information is communicated to a central processor where the doctor already has programmed drug release for antibiotic or growth factor to improve healing. Such a bandage has applications in bed sores, burns and surgical wounds with the advantage of reducing complications from infections and reducing the number of amputations. The key is the timely application of the bandage to the wound site to fasten healing. https://www.digitaltrends.com/cooltech/ smart-bandage

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