The 21st century is an era of incredible technology-driven disruptions that continually fuel advancements in almost every industry. Innovation and changes are constantly happening and the health systems are no exceptions to this. In fact, innovation is a part of the normal operation of healthcare systems that allows it to improve the quality of life.

Scientific researches are constantly leading to more knowledge about human health and diseases and is indispensable for solving public health challenges. It plays a crucial role in devising new medicines, medical devices, and surgical procedures that eventually get incorporated into healthcare. Some of these innovations provide breakthrough technological improvements while some bring forth incremental improvements.

What Is Disruption?

Disruption as a term has been adopted across a range of fields to describe radical changes that disrupt current paradigms. In simple words, innovation can be considered ‘disruptive’ if it overturns the established order of doing things.

In the context of healthcare, disruption is an innovation that makes things simpler, affordable, and changes the traditional healthcare practices to an extent there is no coming back. Artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, robotics are increasing the pace of disruption in the healthcare system.

Some recent medical innovations disrupting the healthcare industry:

Integration of Nanotechnology And Ayurveda:

Technology is revolutionizing the way physicians can treat certain conditions by combining age-old medical methods with innovative technology. Nanotechnology is one such innovation that is helping ayurvedic medicines work better.

Ayurvedic medicines are extremely popular in India due to their safety and efficacy. However, the delivery of ayurvedic drugs requires modifications because the traditional formulations are not preferred by the patients due to their dose, palatability, taste, and mode of administration. Nanotechnology helps with the delivery of the ayurvedic drug to the specific site of action. The nanocarriers are capable of crossing the plasma membrane and delivering the drug in the desired concentration at a specific site. The integration of Ayurveda and Nanotechnology provides the best medicines to treat various life-threatening diseases.

It has also led to a decreased dependence on tablets and capsules since they are dependent on the gut health of a person, which can be different for everyone. Nanotechnology is a better alternative as it directly enters the bloodstream.

Augmented Reality And 3D Printing:

Augmented Reality is an emerging technology disrupting the healthcare industry. It supplements reality with sounds and images to create its own extended reality, which comes with educational benefits. Practicing surgeons and trainees can perform complex surgeries on the 3D portrayal of the human body made through augmented reality without the implications of failure. It has become a great tool to provide education leading to preventive health and reduction in medical error.

Accurate Diagnosis With Artificial Intelligence:

Artificial intelligence can diagnose a patient up to 30 times faster than a human doctor, providing 99% accuracy. This innovation has assisted several doctors in accessing medical knowledge and diagnosing the patient accurately. The algorithm in artificial intelligence can memorize the entire existing medical knowledge and provide physicians with relevant information by matching the database to a patient’s health records.

Remote Access To healthcare:

Remote patient care and monitoring are made possible through video conferencing technology. Physicians can easily monitor and diagnose their patients from a computer screen while conversing with them about symptoms and being able to see their concerns through a camera.

It serves easy access to healthcare which not only saves money but also helps by freeing up hospitals for those who actually need it. Remote care will continue to become optimized, disrupting healthcare with its ability to provide real-time communication with doctors and patients. Apart from that, electronic health records have also become a possibility. A healthcare worker or a physician can instantly get access to a patient’s entire medical history and make an accurate diagnosis.

With new innovations occurring almost every second day, traditional healthcare technologies and practices were bound to take a back seat. Better, improved healthcare is not only beneficial to healthcare workers but also promotes the overall wellness of the country. The advancement of technology could help India to shift from treating the sick to preventive care and wellness, given the size of its population.