In the prior two parts of the blog series, I considered how digital twins are changing the way we operate machinery and the new paradigms facilitating connectivity to unconnected systems. Medical technology is a particularly interesting use-case (and personal to me – as you will see below) where both digital twinning and connectivity are transforming healthcare.
Bio-metrics drive the quantified self
The complexity of the human body and the mysteries of how it operates have long confounded humans. The quest for longer life and cures for common and rare ailments has spurred scientists and medical professionals to seek a deeper understanding of the various biological aspects of the human body. Unlike in any other time in history, medical practitioners have a whole host of tools to diagnose, monitor, and cure the human body.
Biological organisms by nature are not easily amenable to digital connectivity. However, innovations and wearables are bringing new approaches to connecting the physical human body to a digital twin. Wearables like wristwatches, blood sugar monitors and implanted devices are now recording and transmitting data. Within the proximity to a smartphone almost guaranteed, the biometric data is instantly processed, visualized, trended and compared to historical data to aid in rapid diagnosis of anomalies.
My daughter plays Division 1 lacrosse at college and is part of a new study where she and her teammates are connected to multiple sensors and devices measuring the external demands of the sport, specifically the volumes and intensities of movement. It uses GPS, accelerometer, and gyroscope to describe those demands in a 3D manner to ultimately be more prescriptive in the preparatory process. With this information, her coaches know the volumes players achieve (i.e. high-speed running during games) so they can design practices that build the players towards those volumes and in the preseason prepare them so that games are easier, less demanding, and recovery is quicker. Ultimately, this allows them to play at a higher level. Whether for sports performance, recreational use or for critical healthcare – the ‘quantified self’ is here. From a medical perspective, the data is invaluable in ensuring that medications and other therapies are making an impact or determining if intervention is needed.
Visualization enables healthcare anytime and anywhere
Another area is in the visualization of the inner mechanisms and physiology of the human body. X-ray radiology, magnetic resonance imaging, and tomographic scanning have always been invaluable as aids to create images of the human body. Now advanced imaging and digital aids are generating exceptionally sophisticated imagery that not only furthers our understanding of the inner workings of the human body but makes disease detection rapid. When complemented with AI algorithms that sift through imaging records to identify patterns and similarities, doctors now have powerful ways to diagnose root causes. Perhaps more important than the imagery itself is the ability to access these images from anywhere in the world on a simple mobile device. Allowing doctors to care for their patients remotely with access to accurate data is lowering the cost of health care and increasing the quality of care.
Today it is inconceivable to imagine a doctor’s visit without technology. From the medical record of past visits, insurance records, medical imagery and all the way to the prescriptions used to cure ailments – the human health record is a treasure trove of information that when integrated, correlated and compiled yields a full digital profile of how our body works, how it responds to medication and its specific vulnerabilities.
All the data collection, when done ethically and with appropriate safeguards for protecting patient privacy, will aid doctors in quick diagnosis and timely prescription. Even more valuable will be the proactive determination of our specific susceptibilities and timely interventions.
Arrow keenly understands the impact of IoT on healthcare and the associated challenges. In fact, two recent examples – an MRI therapy provider for cancer cure and a DNA sequencing equipment provider –illustrate the strong portfolio Arrow offers to health technology providers. Check out this video to see how we are partnering with innovative companies like Elekta.
