The advancement of technology is of crucial importance in the field of medicine. It doesn’t only facilitate the doctors’ and surgeons’ jobs, but it also significantly increases the safety of patients, as well the speed of their recovery.
Every now and then, we are presented with new or upgraded devices and instruments. In the following article, we will discuss some of these. We will tell you what the benefits of these are and how they continuously help develop modern medicine.
Contents
1. MARVEL tool
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Brain surgery is probably the most complicated type of medical procedure. It doesn’t only require top precision, but oftentimes, surgeons cannot clearly see what they are doing. This has been a problem for many years now, but this is expected to change really soon.
Skull Base Institute and NASA have developed a new surgical tool that is called Multi-Angle-Rear-Viewing Endoscopic Tool (MARVEL). It includes a tiny camera, which will enable doctors to get an accurate 3-D image of the tumor they are operating on. It means that not only will they be more successful, but also the chances of complications will significantly decrease. What’s more, this will be a minimally invasive surgery, so the patients will recover faster.
2. Smart needles
Unfortunately, about half of the world’s population faces cancer diagnosis during their lifetime. Considering the fact that time is of the essence when diagnosing and treating malignant cells, scientists have created smart needles that will enable them to understand what they are dealing with in a matter of seconds.
These use optical biopsy, meaning that they measure the rate of light the tissue reflects when a laser beam falls on it. As you can assume, there is a difference between the light scatter by healthy and infected tissue, which will enable doctors to understand whether there are some issues instantaneously. In addition, it is expected that these needles will help professionals detect a fingerprint of the infected tissue. This is not only beneficial for doctors since they will be able to come up with a treatment plan immediately, but it will also decrease patients’ anxiety because waiting for biopsy results can be a nightmare.
3. Smart surgical glasses
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No, these are not the latest tool, and they have been used since 2012. However, these smart glasses are a relatively new concept that is still being developed. Basically, these are tiny computers that include a video camera and a head-mounted monitor. As you can assume, these can be connected to the Internet and other computers and devices.
Doctors can use these for streaming videos of the surgery and remote observation. In a nutshell, anyone can attend the procedure via a link. This can be quite beneficial if a doctor who specializes in specific problems cannot physically attend the operation, so the surgeon who is performing it can include them to observe and help. At the same time, experts and teachers can use these glasses for live video streaming of an operation to their students. Talk about a teaching technique, right?
Nevertheless, even though smart glasses represent state-of-the-art technology, there is still a lot that has to be done to upgrade them. For example, some people had complaints regarding the over-exposure of light and image quality.
4. Operation planning
Generally speaking, a lot of people don’t understand how crucial it is to have a detailed plan of the procedure beforehand. Sure, in some cases, things can go another way, so doctors are forced to improvise in a way. Nevertheless, usually, they follow this surgical plan down to the last detail.
Why? Well, because this way, they are able to determine the best approach to the operation based on the gathered information, the condition they are treating, and additional case requirements. This plan can determine whether the procedure will be successful or not.
Nevertheless, this entire process can take a lot of time. Surgeons and their staff need to do multiple tests and screenings before even being able to start working on a plan. As you can assume, this is not appropriate when it comes to emergencies. This is why VR is being introduced to this aspect of medicine. When combined with scans, this technology can significantly accelerate this entire process. In addition, in some cases, it can even be more beneficial than traditional methods, meaning that the surgeons can get a better idea of what they have to do in a significantly shorter period of time.
5. Remote operations
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We understand how ridiculous this may sound, but it is a real option that is currently under development. The idea is that surgeons will be able to control robots and all the equipment remotely in order to complete certain procedures. Naturally, the greatest benefit will be for people who live in remote areas and who are unable to travel great distances to the nearest professionals. Currently, the Mayo Clinic is conducting a study on a remote procedure for PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention) performed by robots with assistance from humans.
6. Surgical robots
No, robots will not replace surgeons, but instead, with the help of artificial intelligence, they will take their work to the next level. In simple terms, they will remove many obstacles and enable doctors to do their job more efficiently.
These devices will be able to collect enormous quantities of data professionals need when implementing innovative treatments and medicines. Upon analyzing this data, robots will help doctors determine the right place where they should put stem cells to promote growth and regeneration. At the same time, these will be able to establish the exact area where anti-cancer medicines should be placed for optimal effect.
Wrapping up
To sum up, we can all agree that surgical tools and equipment have come a long way. As you can see, scientists are not only working on further developing and upgrading the existing ones, but they are also tirelessly working on creating new ones using the latest pieces of technology. Since we have only discussed the state-of-the-art instruments that are yet to be implemented, you may be interested in learning more about the ones that are currently being used. Find a full catalog of medical care equipment from SurgicalSupplies.us . Shop braces, walkers, canes, scooters, wheelchairs, bathroom aids, clinical respiratory services, medical oxygen and oxygen supplies, blood pressure monitors & more online.
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