Scientists have recently unlocked an effective new treatment option for lethal brain tumors and created a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the winter bug responsible for hospitals shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
Rapid gene sequencing was once performed over weeks but has recently been reduced to hours. Furthermore, artificial intelligence can detect sepsis six hours sooner than current methods do and thus potentially save many lives.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a powerful tool that could dramatically advance medical research. AI technology can scan large datasets and detect patterns that would be difficult for human researchers to spot; additionally, it automates tasks that require significant time and effort, saving human resources for more complex issues.
AI can be particularly valuable in its search for drug targets. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic an AI-based system was able to identify potential candidates that could bind with two specific protein targets on the virus and thus decrease side effects and increase treatment efficacy.
Other AI applications can help physicians make more informed decisions regarding diagnosis and treatment. Emergency department errors that cause fatal consequences for patients can be reduced with AI’s quick interpretation of clinical data and quickly alerting physicians of potential issues. Furthermore, in one study, AI was recently demonstrated as capable of distinguishing benign from malignant skin lesions with equal accuracy as board-certified dermatologists.
AI can also be leveraged to extract insights from newer forms of patient data, like genetic testing results. With this knowledge, more personalized treatments may be developed that correspond with each individual’s genetic makeup – potentially bypassing resistance to existing drugs that don’t work effectively across all patients.
AI can offer many benefits to healthcare systems, yet several obstacles must first be overcome before this technology can become widespread. These challenges include data privacy and security concerns, training algorithms to recognize patterns in medical data sets, compliance with federal regulations, physician acceptance, and trust issues. These all must be overcome for AI to revolutionize healthcare and enhance patient outcomes truly.
CRISPR
Scientists are developing various CRISPR-based cell therapies. Some are editing liver cells to cure blood diseases like hemophilia. Others modify pancreatic cells to treat diabetes or make immune cells resistant to HIV infection. Finally, others attempt to use CRISPR to edit sperm and egg cells so as not to pass disease-causing mutations to future generations.
Scientists quickly went from questioning whether CRISPR would work on human cells to testing its practical uses in just ten years. One promising study at the University of Pennsylvania uses CRISPR to modify T cells, the immune system’s “seeker” molecules that detect and kill cancerous cells. They added a synthetic gene thatthat allows these T cells to recognize NY-ESO-1 tumor markers more quickly, leading to greater cancer-killing effectiveness and reduced side effects risks.
CRISPR can also aid researchers in animal modeling. By altering animal gene mutations to reflect human diseases better, they can test new treatments more rapidly and bring them faster to patients. They’re also using it to produce disease-resistant crops, organ donors for transplants and mosquitos unable to bite;. At the same time, scientists even try bringing extinct species back from near extinction by editing their genomes.
CRISPR can be incredibly versatile, yet its use may challenge scientists. They worry that immune responses might react against either the bacterial DNA used as a guide or the Cas9 gene-cutting enzyme itself; to mitigate risks, they’ve devised methods to deliver CRISPR components more precisely and safely.
But CRISPR holds great promise; within a few years, it could revolutionize healthcare by creating CRISPR-based therapies for various diseases like cancer, blindness, and muscular dystrophy. But as Doudna reminds us, medicine cannot be developed overnight and will need ongoing research and collaboration from around the globe to reach those in need.
Precision Medicine
Precision Medicine is an innovative form of health care that tailors treatments to an individual’s genetic makeup and environment. Such personalized therapies could improve diagnosis, reduce costs, and avoid adverse side effects caused by medications and treatments.
Advances in genomic sequencing technology, biomedical analysis techniques, and the availability of vast healthcare datasets have all contributed to the rise of precision medicine. The US National Institutes of Health have embarked upon an ambitious project known as the All of Us Research Program, in which 1 million participants will collect their health information. Their goal is to build a detailed historical health database that will give valuable insights into disease processes and ways to treat them.
Data collected through this project will be used to identify subsets of the population that share specific genetic traits or phenotypes that correlate with certain diseases and to develop and test targeted drugs against these subsets for treatment. We aim to make precision medicine widely accessible to improve patient outcomes.
Precision medicine not only speeds the discovery of new drug targets but also revolutionizes existing treatments. For instance, molecular profiling of cancer cells allows doctors to select more effective options such as chemotherapy-immunotherapy combo treatments or targeted therapy; molecular characterization of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) led to FDA-approved medication that treats only patients who harbor certain mutations of the BCR-ABL gene.
Although progress has been impressive, much remains to make precision medicine widely accessible to all. One key challenge involves demonstrating both clinical and economic value for genomic and phenotypic testing at scale; providers need to incorporate these tests into existing workflows, ensure cost-effectiveness outside major medical centers, accelerate the development of targeted therapeutics faster via larger studies as well as clear reimbursement paths from payers to make this happen.
Telehealth
Telehealth has become an increasingly popular healthcare option; according to the American Medical Association (AMA), over 85% of doctors currently utilize telehealth.
This cutting-edge technology allows patients to connect with clinicians via video or phone, even when travel is not an option. It was especially valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic when more people could get assistance without visiting their physician’s office.
Studies have demonstrated that telehealth encounters achieve similar or better clinical outcomes than in-person visits, and patient satisfaction remains high. However, not all telehealth services are created equal; different factors, such as the type of service offered by the provider or technology used, could impact the quality of interactions; for instance, live video calls tend to produce higher quality interactions than “store and forward” encounters.
Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) technologies can also enhance asynchronous telehealth encounters by allowing clinicians to remotely monitor patients using wearable devices like smart watches or fitness trackers – the Apple Watch, for instance, can detect abnormal heart rhythms and alert physicians via Bluetooth. Medical device innovation has resulted in RPM tools such as the Pulmonary Artery Sensor that enables cardiologists to monitor patients’ pulmonary artery pressures and identify early signs of complications.
Telehealth has quickly become a go-to method for many clinical interventions beyond RPM, including psychiatry and behavioral health services. Through telepsychiatry appointments, mental health professionals can connect with patients from their homes or places of work via video conferencing, helping them overcome obstacles that would otherwise prevent them from attending traditional psychiatric appointments.
While telehealth has generated much controversy, more research needs to be conducted into its effects on patient outcomes. Furthermore, it should not be seen as separate from in-person healthcare; both should adhere to similar quality and practice standards.