The use of the first vaccines, the use of antibiotics, and the discovery of the structure of DNA represented great advances in medicine focused on defeating and overcoming diseases Rapé. Medical science continues to progress to better understand the mechanisms of our body’s behavior in order to prevent, diagnose early and cure pathologies that would once be fatal.
Advances in medicine with greater impact on our health
What have been the latest medical advances?
What technological advances will have the greatest impact on our health ? Below you can see the latest technological advances in medicine that improve our health exponentially:
Liquid biopsy
A minimally invasive test performed on a blood sample to identify cancerous tumor cells or DNA from tumor cells that are circulating in the blood. It can be useful to diagnose early-stage cancer and to plan treatment based on the type of tumor , determine its effectiveness, and detect relapse. It is a simple procedure that avoids disruption to the patient and saves time. The technique is not yet definitive in the early detection of cancer , so it does not replace other early diagnosis methods but is complementary to them. Among the challenges is finding out what type of tumors benefit most from applying it and how often the tests should be done.
Robotic surgery
Although robotic arms have been used in the operating room since the 1980s, it was not until the arrival of the Da Vinci robotic surgery system with four arms at the beginning of the 21st century when its possibilities were expanded, making it one of the best technological advances in the world. health that leads us to talk about smart operating rooms . It is already used in neurological, gynecological, urological or cardiothoracic procedures , but also in other surgical processes. It makes interventions more comfortable and more precise, especially the most complex and difficult to access, overcoming the limitations of laparoscopic surgery .
Gene therapy and cellular immunotherapy
In 2012, the European Medicines Agency approved the first single-administration gene therapy for a hereditary disease . Glybera treats lipoprotein lipase deficiency , which causes fat to build up in the blood, a rare metabolic disease. However, the high cost of the treatment (one million dollars, the most expensive drug in the world) and its low demand has led the company not to renew the marketing license. Despite this precedent, gene therapy , by which a gene is introduced into the patient’s cells to correct the genetic cause of a disease, continues to be one of the promises of medicine for its ability to reverse highly debilitating pathologies and even now incurable. Additionally, in 2017 the FDA approved two pioneering treatments that use immunotherapy to strengthen the immune system: a patient’s own healthy cells are modified in the laboratory to attack cancer cells and fight some rare types of cancer. Experts anticipate that, beyond their application in rare, low-prevalence diseases, they will be useful in the future to address more common pathologies such as diabetes or Alzheimer ‘s .
Genome sequencing
After deciphering the human genome, the next step is personalized sequencing for medical purposes, which promises a revolutionary future for medicine. The information may be used preventively, before the onset of pathologies, to institute changes in lifestyle and to apply targeted therapies based on pharmacogenomics in fields such as oncology, rare diseases or infectious diseases . An open door to personalized medicine in which environmental exposure will also be taken into account in the behavior of genes to reach a diagnosis of the greatest precision and anticipate diseases.
Decipher the cell atlas
The next megaproject in biology , according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) , will be to build the first cellular atlas or map of the 37.2 trillion human cells. “A scheme to capture and examine millions of individual cells using the most powerful tools of modern genomics and cell biology,” says MIT. A new path to explore in the development of drugs aimed at specific targets and a race that even the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has joined by contributing funds in this field of research.
Among the main advances in science that improve health, we also find magnetic resonance imaging, a test aimed at detecting and diagnosing injuries and diseases. The Virgen del Mar hospital has the latest technology and equipment to perform this type of analysis.