Written by Lauren Murphy, SIU School of Medicine
The classic flick “Back to the Future” predicted we would have self-tying shoe laces, automatic dog walkers, self-drying jackets and a power source fueled by garbage by 2015. While we must still suffer through tying our own shoelaces and using an umbrella to stay dry, the medical community has come up with some pretty spectacular gadgets in the last few years that we think might be even cooler than an automatic dog walker. Check out our list of top medical innovations.
1. Surgical Robotics: Robotic surgical devices, such as Southern Illinois University School of Medicine’s da Vinci Hysterectomy, can benefit patients by causing less pain, reducing the risk of infection, cutting down on blood loss, minimizing scarring and speeding up recovery time. Surgical robotics have been described by some as “the future of medicine,” likely due to their ability to lessen recovery time by approximately 50 percent through the use of minimally invasive procedures.
2. Fetal monitoring systems: SIU School of Medicine researchers Dr. Robert Abrams, division chief of maternal fetal medicine, and Dr. Nazeih Botros, are testing a device known as AmmSensor™, a system that can monitor, record and analyze fetal movements in real-time in the hope of decreasing the risk of fetal death. Expectant mothers with high-risk pregnancies can place the device around their abdomens and wirelessly transmit the data, including the fetal heart rate, uterine contractions and pressure occurrences on the uterine wall, to their physicians.
3. Home automation systems: You’ve probably seen the window shades that close with the tap of a remote, but did you know there are entire automation systems that help aging loved ones, especially those with Alzheimer’s disease, safely stay in their own homes longer? Sensors, which can track activity, turn off appliances and detect flooding, are placed around the home. If, for example, an Alzheimer’s patient leaves her home at 3 am, a silent sensor on her front door will text her daughter to alert her that her mother has left.  A sensor can also be installed in the kitchen to monitor eating habits or in the bedroom to detect sleeping issues. Naturally, this may seem like an invasion of privacy, which is why we advocated for detecting Alzheimer’s disease early on so that the affected may be a part of the conversation.
4. Bioprinted tissues and organs: Multi-layered skin grafts, custom-fit bones, tracheal splints, heart tissue and more can now be bioprinted using layer-by-layer positioning of biochemicals, biological materials and living cells. According to Sean Murphy and Anthony Atala, authors at Nature Biotechnology, the futuristic technology also has the potential to be used for research, drug discovery and toxicology.
5. Ingestible Smart Pills: Designed for patients who often forget to take their medications or mix up dosages, “smart pills,” which are linked to sensors and powered by electrolytes within the body, can track the precise moment when medications are taken for several days at a time. If a patient forgets his/her medication, a text message will be sent to the patient’s caretaker who can remind him/her to take the medication. Although smart pills have been extensively tested, they are still relatively new. Researchers are working on an ingestible pill that would do the job of a colonoscopy. One company has recently designed a battery-powered camera pill that can take high-speed photos of the intestinal tract. The patient could transmit the data collected by the smart pill to his/her doctor for review. As if that wasn’t cool enough, nanotechnology that can travel the bloodstream and alert users of impending health issues, such as a heart attack or infection, is also making its way to the forefront of medicine.  Take that, automatic dog walkers.
Copyright © SIU School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois.