Over the past year, research has accelerated, highlighting the fundamental role technology plays for the health of the population, for the functioning of the medical system, and for society in general. It has been shown to be a highly effective tool and to play an important role in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of pathologies, as well as efficient management of medical spaces and processes. It is necessary to take advantage of all the potential that this industry can contribute to society, and it is that healthcare technology is a driver of the economy, with annual sales of 7,960 million of euros
It is therefore not surprising that it is estimated worldwide that the market contactless achieve a turnover of 13,000 million euros in 2025 (2) and what 50% of the applications include at least one type of contactless experience such as the look, the voice, the gestures or the virtual reality or augmented reality in two years.
‘It’s not science fiction. The technology enables endless impactful healthcare applications in the lives of patients and the capabilities of medical personnel. However, it is essential that researchers have access to these technologies to explore and develop their full potential in healthcare. Technology companies should make their devices and developments available free of charge to healthcare personnel and institutions to enable substantial progress. At Irisbond, we are promoting various initiatives in this regard and we have already transferred our technology and research devices to different centers in different types of pilots, ”says de Eduardo Jáuregui, CEO of Irisbond.
The Spanish company Irisbond highlights 5 technological applications they revolutionize medicine.
Early diagnosis of Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s
It is extremely effective in diagnosing disease neurological, degenerative, or visionAs well as the treatment of many ailments for both the elderly and children. The use of eye tracking technology has been shown can even bring the diagnosis forward by 10 years from diseases such as Parkinson’s, the Alzheimer’s o la Dementia, improvement in recovery and treatment, as well as a change in the patient’s quality of life. This application is especially important given the advancing aging of today’s society, which is a global challenge for medicine.
The eye follow offers enormous potential for neurology, with this technology vital neurophysiological data can be obtained from the elderly population on a daily basis, facilitating diagnosis, prognosis and follow-up. The same thing happens with diseases such as dyslexiawhere technology provides support in the assessment of cognitive impairment
Remote control
Time and precision reign in the operating theater, which is why techniques are already being used contactless such as gesture recognition or eye follow to consult information on a computer in a non-invasive intervention. This is the case, for example, with operations with orthopedic implants or cardiovascular devices.
You can get a information management and real-time analysis of what is seen during an operationSo doctors could use a history of information to make decisions on the spot, using references to previous similar operations.
And what’s even more spectacular, teams of medical specialists can accompany others in hospitals thousands of miles away during operations, thanks to artificial intelligence solutions. As an example, you can find the one made by the doctor Antonio de Lacy at Mobile World Congress 2019, which became the first remote surgical procedure thanks to 5G technology.
Supported communication technology for patients with disabilities
One of the first developments of this technology was aimed at improving the quality of life of people with varying degrees of disability. Known as supported communication technology, allows the patient to communicate freely and autonomously with his environment, giving him freedom and independence. Patients with severe neuromotor impairment, with severe involvement of both upper limbs and inability to communicate orally or in writing, mainly patients with ALSbasilar artery thrombosis, infantile cerebral palsy, head trauma and pontine myelinolysis.
In the Government Gazette of 27 April of 2019, the expansion of the National Health System’s portfolio of services was announced, where the total grant for eye readers from January 2020. The first to launch it was the Generalitat Valenciana, which awarded the first tender for the supply of ocular devices to Irisbond, being the pioneer company in assistive technologies with the first eye-tracking software 100% Spanish production and development .
This system includes the eye reader, computer software, patient and / or caregiver training and care, as well as all installation and after-sales services. Eye readers allow the patient to operate any device with his eyes. In combination with accessible communication programs, the patient can express himself autonomously with his environment, as he can, among other things, speak via virtual keyboards and synthesized voice, surf the Internet, use his social networks or even learn to read and write. This significantly improves the person’s quality of life and self-esteem.
Improvement and efficiency of doctor-patient communication
The pandemic has underscored the importance of infection prevention technology and accelerated its widespread adoption. In fact, a global WHO survey found that during the first months of the pandemic – between March and June 2020 – 90% of countries experienced disruptions in their essential health services. The emergency services in particular were interrupted in almost a quarter, the treatment of mental disorders with 61% and the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in 55%, with devastating consequences.
The tecnologías contactless Among other things, they enable health workers to work remotely, thus taking the relevant distance measures and also preventing unnecessary travel.
The use of video conferencing for medical consultations is becoming more and more extensive, which has, among other things, relieved the burden on the health system of first instance. Pilots are also being started to develop solutions communication between doctor and patient in situations where verbal communication is not possible, such as in ICUs and with intubated patients.
Avoid touching surfaces to minimize contamination
Undoubtedly, hospitals are critical areas for infecting disease. And given the widespread use of technology in hospitals, interaction in these spaces through non-contact technology can be useful to reduce the risk of contamination.
In the United States, healthcare associated infections (HAIs) cause 99,000 attributable deaths and cost $ 6.5 trillion a year. In Europe, they represent an additional 16 million days of hospitalization, 37,000 attributable deaths and 7 billion euros in costs per year (5).
Today’s technology zero contact already allows avoid unnecessary interaction with many surfaces, thanks to eye tracking, voice or motion commands. In concrete terms, it is now possible to communicate with the screens, to facilitate access to information, to call the elevators at a glance or to activate the opening or closing of entrances.