Digital Health Technologies That Are Too Futuristic To Be In Practice Now (If Ever) – This And More News In Digital Health This Week
Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD
The Medical Futurist, Author of Your Map to the Future, Global Keynote Speaker, and Futurist Researcher
I am pleased to announce that this Wednesday, I will host a live Q&A session focusing on the application of generative AI in healthcare. Your questions are highly encouraged and welcomed - each query brings us closer to a better understanding and more effective use of AI in our profession.
Other exciting snippets: I will test a blood-pressure-measuring smartwatch from YHE soon, and was happy for the positive feedback from our recent AI survey. I've been experimenting with DALL-E recently, and while the upcoming ChatGPT-integrated version sounds promising, my Midjourney subscription will definitely stay active until its release.
DIGITAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE TOO FUTURISTIC TO BE IN PRACTICE NOW
Nanorobots, food scanners, and bioprinting, while intriguing digital health technologies are considered too futuristic even by The Medical Futurist.
Their widespread adoption is decades away due to their nascent technology and the challenges within the digital health field that must be addressed before their implementation.
AUTONOMOUS VENIPUNCTURE DEVICE AUTOMATES BLOOD DRAWING PROCEDURE
I've been writing about the autonomous robot that can take a blood sample for years because drawing blood is a repetitive, yet risky procedure where human variability (e.g. how the phlebotomist woke up) is dangerous to patients.
There hasn't been news on this front for some time but now Vitestro has developed an autonomous venipuncture device to fully automate the manual blood drawing procedure in hospitals and laboratories.
Vitestro's device will be deployed in a large trial involving 10,000 patients in the Netherlands, and the company expects to obtain CE marking by the end of 2024. We may very soon see such machines in practice.
WELCOME TO THE DIGITAL HEALTH COURSE
With 55 lessons and 2.5 hours of video content, we packed all essential digital health knowledge into this course.
This structured program guides you from the basics to advanced forecasting techniques. You will learn how to recognize incoming trends, how to separate hype from meaning and how healthcare will change in the coming decades.
ORACLE TO LAUNCH GENERATIVE AI TOOLS INTEGRATED WITH EHR
Another tech giant joins the race for healthcare and Oracle chose the most exciting lane: using generative AI for clinical documentation.
"It will automatically take notes during visits with patients and can propose next steps for providers, like ordering medications or scheduling labs, according to a press release."
HOW COULD DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY MAKE AN IMPACT ON PRIMARY CARE?
The healthcare sector should widely adopt digital diagnostic tools and integrate lifestyle medicine—focusing on whole nutrition, regular physical activity, stress management, substance avoidance, quality sleep, and social connectivity—into mainstream practice.
Ideally, the GPs of the near future will act as health coaches. They will interpret health data if something is not clear, give advice when results are not optimal, and spot and check irregularities based on data as soon as possible.
DEEPMIND’S NEW AI CAN PREDICT GENETIC DISEASES
Google DeepMind released a machine learning model, AlphaMissense, that can analyze missense variants and predict the likelihood of them causing a disease with 90% accuracy (and better than existing tools).
"AlphaMissense could help researchers prioritize the slow process of matching genetic mutations to diseases by quickly ruling out unlikely culprits. It could also help improve our understanding of overlooked areas of our genetic code. "
AI CAN HELP SCREEN FOR CANCER—BUT THERE’S A CATCH
The article analyzes some recent studies to address two questions: 1. Will AI-assisted screening lead to more overdiagnosis? And 2. Does overdiagnosis have negative health effects?
"AI could use the information embedded in medical records to examine the trajectories of different patients cancers over time. In this scenario, it might be possible to distinguish those who don't benefit from a diagnosis. "
MORE NEWS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE
SELF CHECK-IN – How one NYC hospital transformed the patient experience
GOES AUTONOMOUSLY – Scientists Successfully Maneuver Robot Through Living Lung Tissue
AI & Emerging Tech in Medicine | Educator, Mentor, Advisor, Consultant | Catalysing Med AI Literacy | LinkedIn Top Voice | Quoted in Forbes | Featured at Times Square | Distinguished Guest at G20 Consultation India 2023
1yAlways impressed by your diligent analysis skills, Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD! Your expertise in digital health and AI is unparalleled. Looking forward to your handpicked insights every week! 🔍🚀 #digitalhealthnews #themedicalfuturist
Founder - CEO - Strategy & Innovation - Health
1yMaïté Butaije
Zeiss Neurotechnology
1yThe Verily glucose lens was a Novartis colab. Interesting concept but actually developing a reliable biomarker for RT blood-sugar from tears has all sorts of issues when it comes to generating actionable data. Wonder if Apple will manage to get their PoC for passive measurement into technical development this year...
Pharmacist. U.de Concepción, Chile. Ph. D. in Pharmaceuticals Sciences U. Basel. Switerland
1yCongratulations, Mr. Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD