Last year my family and I relocated to Arizona from New York because of my wife’s job change and it has taken us quite a while to scratch beneath the surface of the community. We have been greatly helped by our neighbor Dr. Roger Olade who works at the local hospital here in Arizona. My background is in tech development and this was something that Roger and myself bonded over very early on, well that and the blazing Arizona sunshine! Over the course of the last 12 months I have learned a vast amount about internal medicine from Roger and how we can better treat diseases, pain and disorders through the benefit of technology. In fact I am currently working on an action plan with my team for some of the suggestions which Dr. Olade has. Sadly, there is not enough money in the development of some aspect so medicine, yet the benefits of doing so are so abundant.
Pressure
One of the biggest issues which hospitals face, both here in Arizona and across the country, is that they are often overcrowded and understaffed. Tighter requirements force hospitals to make a quick turnover of patients and within that, there can be mistakes made. Technology can greatly help with this and here is an example to show it. Virtual doctor technology is being developed which will allow patients to have a consultation via a video link with a doctor, who can then recommend whether or not they should go to hospital. Doctors can see patients quicker this way and they can minimize waiting times in the hospitals.
Treatment
The most exciting aspect of tech in medicine is the treatments that we can administer and some o the recent advancements are truly incredible. Take diabetes sufferers for example, we can now implant a small device which can measure their levels of insulin and administer more should it be required. The research for this treatment started back in the 90s so you can see just how long it can take to turn an idea into an actual treatment option.
Knowledge
There has been a shift in the way that we approach medicine in the last 30 years or so and now there is more R and D being carried out than ever before, with a focus on diagnosis rather than treatment. We know that with diseases like cancer for example, that the early we can catch it, the more likely we are to cure it. This is not to say that treatments aren’t being worked on of course, but tech options like better investigatory machines are going to lead the way in making sure that patients are being diagnosed with more accuracy and at a faster rate.
Working with Dr. Olade has been an eye-opening experience and hopefully through our future work we can make some breakthroughs that can help thousands of lives.
