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ACADEMIC LESSON

Science & Technology in Medicine Today & Tomorrow

1 Advances in science and technology are bringing
about major changes in the field of medicine.
From new methods for diagnosis and treatment to
scientific breakthroughs in genetic medicine and
remote robotic surgery, progress is being made at
an ever-increasing pace.

Medical Diagnosis
2 Monitoring signals such as heart activity and
glucose levels or studying sleep and activity levels
currently requires a patient to be connected by wires
to a machine that can record this data. For medical
diagnosis in the future, scientists are working on
the development of wearable skin patches with
electronic sensors that can perform the same make use of the camera, flash, and microphone to
functions while allowing the patient to move freely help diagnose and monitor a variety of diseases or
and resume normal activity. Patches will transmit conditions.
data wirelessly to a smartphone or computer and 5 Scientists have also devised a new method for
will transmit an alert or store information for later detecting cancerous tissue using photoacoustic
analysis. Another new type of patch will read imaging. The new technique involves aiming a light
biomarkers to determine levels of stress and anxiety. beam on the area and then reading an image of

3 Sensors that work from inside the body are also sound waves that are released from cancerous cells.
being developed. One example is a tiny ingestible Surgeons are using it in breast cancer operations to
sensor placed inside a pill that a patient swallows. see if they have removed all the cancerous tissue in
The sensor turns on in the stomach, detecting when the area.
the patient has taken the medication, and monitors 6 Computer software that accesses data banks
bodily systems. It sends this information to a skin is aiding in the diagnosis of schizophrenia, a
patch that transmits it to the patient’s smartphone. serious mental disorder. The software compares
4 Cancer continues to be one of the leading subjects magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the
of medical research, with early diagnosis being a patient’s brain to a data bank of scans from patients
main focus. Currently, doctors need to remove a with schizophrenia. Another software analyzes
tissue sample and conduct a biopsy to determine electrocardiograms in reference to a data bank to
the presence of cancer. One new development is a check for signs of cardiac arrhythmia, or irregular
small fiber optic probe that examines tissue with a heartbeat.
laser light and a miniature microscope and collects Innovative Treatment
images that can reveal the presence of cancer.
Researchers hope to make the probe small enough 7 A new approach has been developed for delivering
so it can be inserted into the body to detect internal medication directly to an area needing treatment,
cancers. In the detection of skin cancer, a handheld as an alternative to pills or injections. A magnetic
scanner now helps doctors screen suspicious skin implant containing a drug is surgically inserted in
spots to see whether a biopsy is needed. In another the area to be treated. Passing a magnet over the
approach, smartphone apps compare photos device causes it to release a dose of the drug into the
of suspicious spots to a data bank of cancerous surrounding tissue.

moles, although their findings are not yet reliable. 8 Scientists are working on a more futuristic way of
Smartphone apps are also being developed that delivering treatment to specific points in the body.
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