4 Coolest Medical Technologies of the Future

Posted on Feb 23 2021 - 7:17am by Editorial Staff

The coolest part about living in “the future” or, rather, the digital age, is all of the cool technology that is going to let us live longer, happier lives. But not only are we going to be healthier and living longer…we are going to be having a lot more fun doing it, too!

Here are the 4 coolest pieces of medical tech that will impact your life.

Telemedicine

At this point in the coronavirus pandemic, you are probably familiar with the term telemedicine. But if you are not, here’s a brief synopsis. Telemedicine refers to clinical services provided through a two-way digital platform.

However, providers are not free to use whatever platform they choose. There are restrictions on what platforms clinical providers and medical professionals can use when they are providing care to patients over the internet.

HIPAA regulations mandate that medical providers take care to ensure the sanctity of user information physically, administratively, and technologically. So when you are signing up for those virtual wellness or acute visits, you can rest assured knowing that your information is secure…provided your doctor is using a HIPAA secure video platform.

Many people are reluctant to enter medical offices because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is understandable to an extent. However, it is actually more crucial now more than ever to stay on top of maintaining good health. The only way to discern between the symptoms of the coronavirus and other usual suspects like the common cold or the flu

Telemedicine Wound Care

Okay, okay, you say to yourself. Telemedicine is great. It is responsible for singlehandedly expanding access to thousands if not millions of people, and many more to come in the next few decades. But there are limits on what telemedicine can do, right? After all, there can never be a replacement for face to face, tactile healthcare…right?

You probably have figured it out, but if you said right…you’d be wrong!

While telemedicine has proven useful for surface level wound analysis, only in recent years has technology caught up to demand for more advanced virtual screening methods for infection. Now, healthcare professionals can actually track the progression of potential infections through a virtual visit alone with telemedicine wound care.

In the face of long travel times or the restrictions placed on providers and patients alike as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, telemedicine is more important than ever, but telemedicine does not need to stop at preventative care!

Medical Record Access

Medical record access has exploded in popularity amongst patients in recent years. Now more than ever we know that managing our healthcare is key to maintaining good health in the long term and preventing small problems from becoming chronic issues.

Electronic medical records programs or EMR allow you, the patient, more control now than ever before over who gets access to your medical records and when. This extends to your family and even other doctors. It is truly a democratization of record keeping that empowers patients to make forward thinking decisions about their health.

Wearables

Wearables that can track your movement and activity levels have been all the rage for a while now, but they have not been slowing down since their inception. No, in fact wearables are more popular than ever and show no signs of stopping their meteoric rise.

Why are wearables so appealing? Well, for one, they are usually very stylish. Are they accurate? That is a more contentious question. It depends on what you are measuring. For example, it is easier to measure heart rate than it is to accurately measure calories burned, though many watches claim to be able to do both. However, algorithms that calculate things like calories burned are really just rough estimates based on what we know behind the science and movement of calories. That is all well and good, until you take into account the fact that we will likely not be working out with peak, physical characteristics and impeccable form when we are active, so those calorie counts likely will not reflect what we did (or did not) actually burn.

As a general rule of thumb, most technology that you can wear measures your body’s heart rate and other variables best when you are engaging in repetitive, even-keeled movements. Unfortunately, this also rules out weather variables like rain or snow, so forget about wearing them without protection in the elements. To further ensure accuracy, providing your little new age gadget with more information, as opposed to less, is a good bet. You can also stack up on wearables, like using your phones wearable functionality in concert with a separate watch like device. Then, at the end of your workout or physical activity, you can compare them against one another and see what you have found!

About the Author

Editorial Staff at I2Mag is a team of subject experts.