[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":344},["ShallowReactive",2],{"slug-healthcare-and-medicine-needs-a-global-fda":3},{"post":4,"relatedPosts":186,"relatedBooks":343},{"id":5,"date":6,"date_gmt":7,"guid":8,"modified":10,"modified_gmt":11,"slug":12,"status":13,"type":14,"link":15,"title":16,"content":18,"excerpt":21,"author":23,"featured_media":24,"comment_status":25,"ping_status":25,"sticky":26,"template":27,"format":28,"meta":29,"categories":30,"tags":32,"project_category":46,"contact_email_category":47,"yst_prominent_words":48,"class_list":57,"better_featured_image":78,"acf":121,"yoast_meta":130,"_links":133},22730,"2019-01-15T10:14:48","2019-01-15T08:14:48",{"rendered":9},"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002F","2022-05-18T18:09:31","2022-05-18T16:09:31","healthcare-and-medicine-needs-a-global-fda","publish","post","https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fhealthcare-and-medicine-needs-a-global-fda",{"rendered":17},"Healthcare And Medicine Needs A Global FDA",{"rendered":19,"protected":20},"\n\u003Ctable style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #eee; border-top: 4px solid #444;\" cellpadding=\"5px\">\n\u003Ctbody>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd style=\"width: 100%;\">\n\u003Cp style=\"color: #555;font-size: 12px;line-height: 14px\">THIS ARTICLE HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED SINCE 2019. THE INFORMATION SHARED IN THE ARTICLE WAS ACCURATE AT THE TIME OF ITS PUBLICATION, BUT IT MAY BE OUT OF DATE NOW. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fmagazine\">BROWSE OUR LATEST ARTICLES HERE\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Ftd>\n\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Ftbody>\u003C\u002Ftable>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Globalization has reached healthcare big time: a French patient can easily ask a Belgian company to sequence the DNA of his tumor tissue, then convince a Swiss pharma company to sign them up for a relevant clinical trial on a Spanish island. Not only that but also the recent controversies around gene editing in babies in China, as well as the operation of direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies, the online medication scene, and health technology companies expanding their services to other countries highlight the need for a global “FDA” day by day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003C!--more-->\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>We are not waiting for regulators\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The availability of know-how, raw materials, rapidly developing methods and technology entail the exponential growth of innovation everywhere – that also means the rigorously regulated healthcare and life sciences. Previously, the traditional “ivory tower of medical knowledge” hindered the appearance of out-of-the-box solutions – individuals outside the medical community didn’t have access to knowledge, means or materials for innovation. However, \u003Cstrong>21\u003Csup>st\u003C\u002Fsup>-century sharing economy enables peoples, groups or companies to access information, tools or raw materials in fields never available before – such as healthcare. \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Also, as the sector is (over)regulated in certain geographical and scientific areas, and regulatory bodies react too slowly to issues raised by innovation, many disruptors are by-passing the nods for a new method or product from regulatory agencies and just target the right population on online channels. Also, numerous empowered patients act similarly: they are seeking out the treatment most appropriate for them – regardless of boundaries – and they are knocking on the doctors’ door with well-articulated plans regarding their care. \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>My favorite example is the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fliving-with-an-artificial-pancreas\u002F\">#wearenotwaiting Twitter-movement for patients suffering from diabetes\u003C\u002Fa>. The initiator of the community, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fliving-with-an-artificial-pancreas\u002F\">Dana Lewis\u003C\u002Fa>, and her husband built a so-called artificial pancreas at home and started to spread the blueprints and know-how on Twitter to other diabetes patients – without waiting for the approval of the FDA or any other agency. Why? Because it works and patients needed it. Dana had been using the device for almost two years by the time the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.bloomberg.com\u002Fnews\u002Farticles\u002F2016-09-28\u002Fartificial-pancreas-approved-by-fda-is-first-such-device-in-u-s\">US Food and Drug Administration finally approved it.\u003C\u002Fa> Currently, the big fish of the diabetes market, Medtronic and Dexcom are both developing similar closed-loop systems as the “garage artificial pancreas” created by the #wearenotwaiting community.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-22731\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"460\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FWeAreNotWaiting.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22731\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FWeAreNotWaiting.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FWeAreNotWaiting-768x406.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FWeAreNotWaiting-512x271.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Tim Omer, a CGM “hacker” and a nightscout proponent. Source: www.desang.net\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>The FDA shows the way forward for regulatory bodies\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Regulations slowly following the tracks of innovation is a regular concept, but the FDA managed to catch up with the signs of times. However, it took some years for the agency to realize that they need another (faster) approach for digital health technologies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For example, look at the case of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies. They appeared approximately ten years ago on the market – they developed too fast, and the FDA “recoiled”. In 2014, the FDA decided to restrict 23andme’s operations saying that the health information services were not clear or complete enough for customers. So, the genetic testing company scaled back its activity mostly to provide data about ancestry. The organization took its time to scrutinize the technology, but when it figured that DTC genetic testing companies can be regulated in a way that protects patients but allows these services to be available, it gave it the green light – and even significantly changed its attitude. Three years later, in April 2017, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.wired.com\u002F2017\u002F04\u002F23andme-won-back-right-foretell-diseases\u002F\">the FDA re-approved 23andme’s services\u003C\u002Fa>, and in November 2018, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedcitynews.com\u002F2018\u002F11\u002Ffda-approves-23andme-pharmacogenetics-test-for-33-drug-metabolism-related-genetic-variants\u002F\">the first pharmacogenetic test of 23andme\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Not only DTC genetic testing companies could sense the support of the FDA lately. \u003Cstrong>The agency supports various digital health trends starting from artificial intelligence through 3D printing up until digital pills with its guidelines, workshops, and regulations. \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002F10-exciting-digital-health-stories-2017\">The FDA approved the first deep learning algorithm for cardiac imaging built by Arterys in 2017\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong>. Already a year later, the agency cleared another 12 smart algorithms in healthcare.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>The \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002F3dprintingindustry.com\u002Fnews\u002Ffda-awards-2-6m-in-grants-for-3d-bioprinting-and-biomedical-research-140879\u002F\">FDA has been actively supporting the adoption of 3D printing technology\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong> in the biomedical and dental industry.\u003C\u002Fstrong> In 2017, the agency made a statement regarding its commitment to the technology and released \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002F3dprintingindustry.com\u002Fnews\u002Ffda-makes-statement-concerning-future-3d-printing-medicine-125627\u002F\">guidelines for manufacturers submitting 3D printed implants\u003C\u002Fa> and other medical devices. Numerous 3D printing companies reacted positively to the document, and there was a noticeable upsurge in the field. At the end of last year, the FDA also announced it is \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.fda.gov\u002Fnewsevents\u002Fnewsroom\u002Fpressannouncements\u002Fucm587547.htm\">reviewing the regulatory issues related to the bioprinting\u003C\u002Fa> of biological, cellular and tissue-based products to determine whether additional guidance is needed. During the year, the agency organized workshops and meetings to prepare the regulatory body as well as the players of the industry for the coming changes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-22732 size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FFDA-Building.jpg\" alt=\"global FDA\" class=\"wp-image-22732\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FFDA-Building.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FFDA-Building-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FFDA-Building-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FFDA-Building-512x288.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.biotecnika.org\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Shaping up national health regulatory bodies is the first step. What comes next?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The digitization of healthcare as well as other parts of society entails transnationalization and the disappearance of boundaries. \u003Cstrong>Cross-border cooperation in healthcare through technologies could enable treatments outside the scope of the national healthcare systems\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong>. \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Individuals realizing the existing therapeutic options in other countries travel outside their national healthcare systems to receive better or cheaper treatment – or care without restrictions.\u003C\u002Fstrong> For example, many women go from Poland or Ireland to the UK for abortion as both countries have restrictive abortion laws. From Western European countries, numerous people travel to Eastern Europe for dental treatments as the quality of care is high, but prices are much lower than in France or the Benelux states. The \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fec.europa.eu\u002Fhealth\u002Fcross_border_care\u002Foverview_en\">EU estimates that\u003C\u002Fa> the demand for cross-border healthcare represents only around 1 percent of public spending on healthcare, which is currently about €10 billion. Some Americans also migrate to Europe in the hope of receiving more accessible care – just as the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nytimes.com\u002F2019\u002F01\u002F02\u002Fopinion\u002Ffrance-united-states-universal-health-care.html?fbclid=IwAR19UzLNCOhUWXapQuynPr4pTnvN7HzUFmw1KUcN2LKW9cgOiZw0t_4jZVY\">editor of The New York Times ended up in France\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>And of course, my favorite example: imagine that a patient living in France asks a Belgian company to sequence the tissue of his tumor. Afterward, another enterprise in precision diagnostics using the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Faws.amazon.com\u002F\">cloud computing services of Amazon (AWS)\u003C\u002Fa> establishes that a Swiss pharma company has precisely that type of clinical trial on a Spanish island which the patient could use – for free. In case the treatment proves to be effective, the person will be healed without the expertise of French doctors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>But that’s just the beginning. The American ECG sensor, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.alivecor.com\u002F\">AliveCor\u003C\u002Fa> could tell me in Hungary in the morning that I have atrial fibrillation. An Australian company, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.mydna.life\u002Fen-uk\u002F\">MyDNA\u003C\u002Fa>, could send me my pharmacogenomic review and advised me on which medications I’m allergic to the same day. While my \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.withings.com\u002Fhu\u002Fen\u002F\">Withings\u003C\u002Fa> smartwatch produced by a French company could warn me about my low blood oxygen level in the evening. Hell, that would be a rough day! And an example of how multinational medical technology or pharma companies serve their customers globally and how our medical care will by-pass the traditional national healthcare systems – and insurance systems – more and more in the future. That’s what technological revolution, globalization and sharing economy brought to us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-22734\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"580\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FDigital-Health-regulations.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22734\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FDigital-Health-regulations.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FDigital-Health-regulations-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FDigital-Health-regulations-512x341.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.advamed.org\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Where are the global regulatory efforts?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>It’s somewhat unambiguous that if you have a global phenomenon, you can only regulate it right with concerted efforts from all over the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The WHO has the Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) for the evaluation of national regulatory systems, which aims for the convergence of various schemes in the long run. Besides, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fglobalcompliancenews.com\u002Fhealthcare-digital-regulation-20171028\u002F\">efforts are also underway to accelerate the harmonization and convergence of medical device regulations\u003C\u002Fa>. Members of the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF) meet regularly to produce harmonized principles that act as guidance for individual jurisdictions. However, this guidance extends only to the regulation of medical devices, leaving the categories of health-related apps or programs seen as non-devices, subject to the regulatory and enforcement discretion of individual national jurisdictions. Not to speak about various emerging medical treatment methods, such as gene editing and gene therapy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The FDA already realized the need to “go global” more than a decade ago. The regulatory body expanded its domestic and international product quality and safety efforts, including global collaboration, global data-sharing, development and harmonization of standards, field operations, compliance, and enforcement activities. Naturally, though, these programs and initiatives operate along the lines of the interests of the United States and its citizens, and not as elements of a value-neutral global health institution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-22735 size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FGlobal-Health-Regulations.jpg\" alt=\"global FDA\" class=\"wp-image-22735\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FGlobal-Health-Regulations.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FGlobal-Health-Regulations-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FGlobal-Health-Regulations-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002FGlobal-Health-Regulations-512x288.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: https:\u002F\u002Fwww.mcgill.ca\u002Fglobalhealth\u002F\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Setting up a global health regulatory body\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>I think \u003Cstrong>we should respond together to the challenges of globalisation, digitalisation and the transformation of healthcare into digital health. That necessitates the establishment of a global regulatory agency – a “global FDA” – which would support the players of individual countries as an independent body in solving global problems related to medicine and healthcare\u003C\u002Fstrong>. No matter whether it’s about health technologies, gadgets, smartphone apps, genetic testing, clinical trials, medical research or ethical issues.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>I recommend that\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Col class=\"wp-block-list\">\u003Cli style=\"text-align: justify;\">the leaders of the major national regulatory agencies should set up a governing body filled with digital health experts,\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli style=\"text-align: justify;\">the FDA should show the direction in regulating digital health,\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli style=\"text-align: justify;\">the global regulatory body should take up the task of creating regulations for countries to adopt in their own healthcare systems (g., the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.fda.gov\u002Fmedicaldevices\u002Fdigitalhealth\u002Fdigitalhealthprecertprogram\u002Fdefault.htm\">FDA’s Pre-Cert Program\u003C\u002Fa>),\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli style=\"text-align: justify;\">health policy researchers and bioethicists should become members of the regulatory agency to help raise questions and launch debates about issues long overdue (genomic and genetic research, gene editing, longevity research, bioprinting, artificial intelligence),\u003C\u002Fli>\u003Cli style=\"text-align: justify;\">and the regulatory body should communicate and conduct its actions clearly, concisely and openly so that it can educate the general public and prepare the companies developing innovative technologies for compliance.\u003C\u002Fli>\u003C\u002Fol>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The next step is for you to share what you think!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ctable style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #eee; border-top: 4px solid #444;\" cellpadding=\"10px\">\n\u003Ctbody>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd style=\"width: 100%;\">\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>At The Medical Futurist, we are building a community for making a bold vision about the future of healthcare reality today.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002FFIbMejImnxs\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\">\u003C\u002Fiframe>\n\u003Cp>If you’d like to support this mission, we invite you to \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.patreon.com\u002Fthemedicalfuturist\">join The Medical Futurist Patreon Community\u003C\u002Fa>. A community of empowered patients, future-oriented healthcare professionals, concerned health policymakers, sensible health tech developers, and enthusiastic medical students. If there were ever a time to join us, it is now. Every contribution, however big or small, powers our research and sustains our future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.patreon.com\u002Fthemedicalfuturist\">\u003Cstrong style=\"background-color: #e71d3299; color: #000;\">Click here to support The Medical Futurist from as little as $3\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa> – it only takes a minute. Thank you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Ftd>\n\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003C\u002Ftbody>\n\u003C\u002Ftable>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n",false,{"rendered":22,"protected":20},"\u003Cp>Globalization has reached healthcare big time: a French patient can easily ask a Belgian company to sequence the DNA of his tumor tissue, then convince a Swiss pharma company to sign them up for a relevant clinical trial on a Spanish island. Not only that but also the recent controversies around gene editing in babies in China, as well as the operation of direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies, the online medication scene, health technology companies expanding their services to other countries highlight the need for a global “FDA” day by day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",6,22736,"closed",true,"","standard",{"_acf_changed":20,"footnotes":27},[31],521,[33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45],265,275,647,827,844,130,869,203,1083,207,1197,236,260,[],[],[49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56],1617,1683,1723,2063,3189,3611,5067,1571,[58,14,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77],"post-22730","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-future-medicine","tag-global","tag-healthcare","tag-regulations","tag-health-policy","tag-diabetes-management","tag-3d-printing-2","tag-regulation","tag-diabetes","tag-digital-health-companies","tag-digital-health","tag-globalization","tag-fda-2","tag-genetics",{"id":24,"alt_text":27,"caption":27,"description":27,"media_type":79,"media_details":80,"post":5,"source_url":120},"image",{"width":81,"height":82,"file":83,"sizes":84,"image_meta":116,"original_image":119},2560,1440,"2019\u002F01\u002F060_FDA-scaled.gif",{"medium":85,"large":91,"thumbnail":96,"medium_large":100,"1536x1536":101,"2048x2048":106,"large_old_512x288":111},{"file":86,"width":87,"height":88,"mime-type":89,"source_url":90},"060_FDA-370x208.gif",370,208,"image\u002Fgif","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002F060_FDA-370x208.gif",{"file":92,"width":93,"height":94,"mime-type":89,"source_url":95},"060_FDA-768x432.gif",768,432,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002F060_FDA-768x432.gif",{"file":97,"width":98,"height":98,"mime-type":89,"source_url":99},"060_FDA-150x150.gif",150,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002F060_FDA-150x150.gif",{"file":92,"width":93,"height":94,"mime-type":89,"source_url":95},{"file":102,"width":103,"height":104,"mime-type":89,"source_url":105},"060_FDA-1536x864.gif",1536,864,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002F060_FDA-1536x864.gif",{"file":107,"width":108,"height":109,"mime-type":89,"source_url":110},"060_FDA-2048x1152.gif",2048,1152,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002F060_FDA-2048x1152.gif",{"file":112,"width":113,"height":114,"mime-type":89,"source_url":115},"060_FDA-512x288.gif",512,288,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002F060_FDA-512x288.gif",{"aperture":117,"credit":27,"camera":27,"caption":27,"created_timestamp":117,"copyright":27,"focal_length":117,"iso":117,"shutter_speed":117,"title":27,"orientation":117,"keywords":118},"0",[],"060_FDA.gif","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F01\u002F060_FDA-scaled.gif",{"related_posts":122,"related_posts_footer":126,"cta_type":27,"cta_color":27,"subtitle":27,"related_books":20},[123,124,125],11882,13748,15518,[127,128,129],13373,14131,22530,{"yoast_wpseo_title":131,"yoast_wpseo_metadesc":132,"yoast_wpseo_canonical":15},"Healthcare And Medicine Needs A Global FDA - The Medical Futurist","Genetic issues, the online medication scene or health technology companies expanding their services highlight the need for a global “FDA” day by day.",{"self":134,"collection":140,"about":143,"author":146,"replies":149,"version-history":152,"predecessor-version":156,"wp:featuredmedia":160,"wp:attachment":163,"wp:term":166,"curies":182},[135],{"href":136,"targetHints":137},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F22730",{"allow":138},[139],"GET",[141],{"href":142},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts",[144],{"href":145},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Ftypes\u002Fpost",[147],{"embeddable":26,"href":148},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fusers\u002F6",[150],{"embeddable":26,"href":151},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcomments?post=22730",[153],{"count":154,"href":155},17,"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F22730\u002Frevisions",[157],{"id":158,"href":159},46019,"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F22730\u002Frevisions\u002F46019",[161],{"embeddable":26,"href":162},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia\u002F22736",[164],{"href":165},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia?parent=22730",[167,170,173,176,179],{"taxonomy":168,"embeddable":26,"href":169},"category","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcategories?post=22730",{"taxonomy":171,"embeddable":26,"href":172},"post_tag","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Ftags?post=22730",{"taxonomy":174,"embeddable":26,"href":175},"project_category","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fproject_category?post=22730",{"taxonomy":177,"embeddable":26,"href":178},"contact_email_category","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcontact_email_category?post=22730",{"taxonomy":180,"embeddable":26,"href":181},"yst_prominent_words","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fyst_prominent_words?post=22730",[183],{"name":184,"href":185,"templated":26},"wp","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.w.org\u002F{rel}",[187],{"id":129,"date":188,"date_gmt":189,"guid":190,"modified":191,"modified_gmt":192,"slug":193,"status":13,"type":14,"link":194,"title":195,"content":197,"excerpt":199,"author":23,"featured_media":201,"comment_status":25,"ping_status":25,"sticky":26,"template":27,"format":28,"meta":202,"categories":203,"tags":204,"project_category":222,"contact_email_category":223,"yst_prominent_words":224,"class_list":235,"better_featured_image":254,"acf":289,"yoast_meta":298,"_links":301},"2018-12-11T13:00:31","2018-12-11T11:00:31",{"rendered":9},"2022-05-27T10:26:12","2022-05-27T08:26:12","top-digital-health-stories-of-2018-from-amazon-and-google-to-gene-edited-babies","https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Ftop-digital-health-stories-of-2018-from-amazon-and-google-to-gene-edited-babies",{"rendered":196},"Top Digital Health Stories of 2018: From Amazon And Google To Gene-Edited Babies",{"rendered":198,"protected":20},"\n\u003Ctable style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #eee; border-top: 4px solid #444;\" cellpadding=\"5px\">\n\u003Ctbody>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd style=\"width: 100%;\">\n\u003Cp style=\"color: #555;font-size: 12px;line-height: 14px\">THIS ARTICLE HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED SINCE 2018. THE INFORMATION SHARED IN THE ARTICLE WAS ACCURATE AT THE TIME OF ITS PUBLICATION, BUT IT MAY BE OUT OF DATE NOW. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fmagazine\">BROWSE OUR LATEST ARTICLES HERE\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Ftd>\n\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Ftbody>\u003C\u002Ftable>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Instead of mind-boggling inventions, 2018 was the year when national governments, as well as healthcare regulators, started to embrace digital health technologies at scale. The year when Google, Amazon, Apple or Microsoft competed head-to-head for the biggest chunks on the healthcare market, and when the buzzword of the year award went to the blockchain. Here’s our guide to the top digital health stories from last year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003C!--more-->\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>2018: Under the spell of cosmos and microcosmos\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Every year, The Medical Futurist team sits down and collects the top stories of the past 12 months in healthcare. We put the novelties under the microscope, and carefully consider which technologies and\u002For scientific methods could prove to be a passing fling and which are here to stay for longer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Looking at the scientific field in general and considering a much broader context, it is safe to say that 2018 was both the year of Mars and genetics\u002Fgenomics: humanity has considerably widened its horizon regarding the infinite space and the microparticle level\u003C\u002Fstrong>. In practice, that means, for example, that paleogeneticists discovered that a woman who died 90,000 years ago was parented by two different species of human. According to \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nature.com\u002Farticles\u002Fd41586-018-06004-0\">genome analysis\u003C\u002Fa> of a bone found in Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Russia, the woman was half Neanderthal, half Denisovan. But not only that finding was made possible by the incredible advancement of genetics and genomics. In March 2018, NASA announced their twin studies program revealed that time in space can actually change the \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.livescience.com\u002F62044-scott-kelly-space-genes-not-changed.html\">expressions of certain genes\u003C\u002Fa>. Upon returning from the cosmos, Scott Kelly’s \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.newsweek.com\u002Fscott-kelly-astronauts-nasa-dna-838535\">DNA, especially the telomeres underwent some changes\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In connection with humanity’s other space adventures, on July 25, 2018, the Italian Space Agency announced researchers discovered an underground lake on Mars. Using a \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.popularmechanics.com\u002Fspace\u002Fmoon-mars\u002Fa22541370\u002Funderground-lake-liquid-water-mars\u002F\">ground-penetrating radar\u003C\u002Fa>, scientists uncovered a subglacial lake. Later on, the Mars camera \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.wired.com\u002Fstory\u002Fscientists-discover-clean-water-ice-just-below-mars-surface\u002F\">HiRISE\u003C\u002Fa> discovered several spots of eroded land that allowed for more direct access to the planet’s ice supply. What is more, NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity found an assortment of organic molecules on the red planet’s surface, an indication of the possibility of biological life forms on Mars. And according to the latest news, the space agency’s Insight robot landed on the red planet after a six-month journey on 28 November. Now, even if \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.theguardian.com\u002Fscience\u002Fblog\u002F2018\u002Fjan\u002F11\u002Fwill-we-be-ready-to-put-a-human-footprint-on-mars-in-15-years\">we are not sure yet whether we can travel to Mars within 15 years\u003C\u002Fa>, we might have a broader frame to understand humanity’s aspirations and its achievements so far this year, so let’s look at what happened at the forefront of health innovation in the recent past.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-22531 size-full\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FNASA-Mars-Insight-Landing.jpg\" alt=\"digital health technologies\" class=\"wp-image-22531\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FNASA-Mars-Insight-Landing.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FNASA-Mars-Insight-Landing-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FNASA-Mars-Insight-Landing-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FNASA-Mars-Insight-Landing-512x288.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.teslarati.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>1) The importance of good policies\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>While there’s an abundance of digital health technologies out there, neither a level of adoption nor a manner of embracement beneficial for both the patient and the doctor comes naturally. While it could help solve critical problems in care, it could create new ones\u003C\u002Fstrong>. For example, a study found that clinician-oriented solutions such as electronic health records (EHRs) are contributing to \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.nejm.org\u002Fdoi\u002Ffull\u002F10.1056\u002FNEJMp1716845\">physician burnout\u003C\u002Fa> instead of facilitating patient care in the US. Many anticipated that \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fhbr.org\u002F2018\u002F04\u002Fhow-to-accelerate-the-adoption-of-digital-health-technology\">health information technology would reduce costs by limiting the duplication of tests\u003C\u002Fa> and studies, but there is little evidence that it has accomplished this. And while patient-oriented digital solutions have proliferated in number, their clinical impact has been limited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>That’s where guidelines and good policies come into the picture: for a successful implementation of digital health practices and for embedding them into the daily lives of patients and doctors – without further complications\u003C\u002Fstrong>. Recognizing the gravity of the issue, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fdigital-health-best-practices-policy-makers-free-report\">The Medical Futurist Institute published its best practice guidance for policy-makers\u003C\u002Fa> in March 2018, which aims at making it easier to choose the most fitting technology for a given care setting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>That might come in handy as some countries already started to map out digital health policies much earlier – just look at Estonia and its digital democracy. Many others launched the process last year, for example, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fcanada-brings-automation-healthcare-example-governments-follow\">Canada\u003C\u002Fa>, or this year. Denmark published its digital health strategy in January, while \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fnational-digital-health-strategies-around-the-world\">New Zealand, Australia, Israel or Rwanda are all in the process of working out their way how to embrace digital health\u003C\u002Fa>. It is an unprecedented number of countries trying to bridge digital technologies with their healthcare system, and The Medical Futurist assumes that the process will continue with many more in 2019.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FDigital-Health-Best-Practices-for-Policy-Makers-512x288.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22564\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FDigital-Health-Best-Practices-for-Policy-Makers-512x288.jpg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FDigital-Health-Best-Practices-for-Policy-Makers-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FDigital-Health-Best-Practices-for-Policy-Makers-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FDigital-Health-Best-Practices-for-Policy-Makers.jpg 870w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>2) Big tech marches into healthcare\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For the last couple of years, \u003Cstrong>there is \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fleanpub.com\u002Ftech-giants-in-healthcare\">\u003Cstrong>a clear trend showing how the big fish in technology are making a push into healthcare\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cstrong>. Never was it so evident than in 2018 and nothing can prove it better than the top-level healthcare professionals hired to tech companies.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>After Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.cnbc.com\u002F2018\u002F01\u002F30\u002Famazon-berkshire-hathaway-and-jpmorgan-chase-to-partner-on-us-employee-health-care.html\">announced\u003C\u002Fa> a partnership to cut healthcare costs and improve services for their US employees, Jeff Bezos’ company \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.healthcareitnews.com\u002Fnews\u002Fatul-gawande-lead-amazon-berkshire-hathaway-and-jpmorgan-chase-venture\">recruited recognized surgeon\u003C\u002Fa>, author, and journalist Atul Gawande to lead their new healthcare company as a CEO. In June 2018, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.healthcareitnews.com\u002Fnews\u002Fmicrosoft-hires-two-healthcare-leaders-teases-future-projects\">Microsoft hired two top healthcare professionals\u003C\u002Fa> to enhance its open cloud architecture and A.I. solutions and focus on partnerships and cross-company strategy for both healthcare and life sciences. In the case of Google, its parent company, Alphabet has such a vast portfolio in healthcare – with \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fverily.com\u002F\">Verily Life Sciences\u003C\u002Fa>, Google Genomics, Deepmind, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.calicolabs.com\u002F\">Calico\u003C\u002Fa> or \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.google.com\u002Ffit\u002F\">Google Fit\u003C\u002Fa> – that at the beginning of November, it \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.theverge.com\u002F2018\u002F11\u002F9\u002F18079420\u002Fgoogle-health-care-strategy-fit-home-nest-deepmind-verily-ceo-geisinger\">hired Geisinger Health CEO David Feinberg\u003C\u002Fa> to oversee its many initiatives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>The high-profile hires certainly mean new health projects or the advancement of already existing ones\u003C\u002Fstrong>. Amazon was likely to prepare its dynamic move into the pharma scene, while as its latest move, it \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.wsj.com\u002Farticles\u002Famazon-starts-selling-software-to-mine-patient-health-records-1543352136\">announced to sell software\u003C\u002Fa> that mines patient medical records for information doctors and hospitals could use to improve treatment and cut costs. Google strengthens its positions throughout the entire health spectrum, while Tim Cook’s company polishes the capabilities of its smartphones. In January 2018, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.apple.com\u002Fnewsroom\u002F2018\u002F01\u002Fapple-announces-effortless-solution-bringing-health-records-to-iPhone\u002F\">Apple announced that it is bringing health records to iPhones\u003C\u002Fa>. That means some patients in the US can reach their medical histories with one tap into the Health app already. Also, back in December 2017, Tim Cook & Co. announced the development of an advanced heart-monitoring feature for future versions of its smartwatch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Tech companies clearly \u003Cstrong>see the vast potential in the digitization of health services and are in a neck-and-neck race for gaining the most from the healthcare market. That was definitely one of the most defining trends in 2018.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002F0917_tech_giants_16x9_V2.png\" alt=\"digital health technologies\" class=\"wp-image-22532\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002F0917_tech_giants_16x9_V2.png 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002F0917_tech_giants_16x9_V2-370x208.png 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002F0917_tech_giants_16x9_V2-768x432.png 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002F0917_tech_giants_16x9_V2-512x288.png 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>3) The spotlight on the blockchain\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Don Tapscott, author of the book entitled \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.amazon.com\u002FBlockchain-Revolution-Technology-Changing-Business\u002Fdp\u002F151135769X\">Blockchain Revolution\u003C\u002Fa> said in his superb, no-frills \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ted.com\u002Ftalks\u002Fdon_tapscott_how_the_blockchain_is_changing_money_and_business?language=hu#t-1116028\">TED Talk\u003C\u002Fa> that blockchain is likely to have the most significant impact on the next few decades. Well, the technology already has an indisputable achievement: \u003Cstrong>the buzzword of the year award will definitely go to it in 2018. The craze and hype around it remind some experts even of the dotcom bubble.\u003C\u002Fstrong> As \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.reuters.com\u002Farticle\u002Fus-blockchain-companies\u002Fblockchain-name-grabbing-has-echoes-of-dotcom-bubble-idUSKBN1FS1F3\">Reuters explained in its analysis\u003C\u002Fa>, the average share price of companies who have jumped on the blockchain bandwagon and visualized the change at least in their name has risen more than threefold since their re-branding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>No wonder that there are hundreds of companies, start-ups, enterprises, ventures experimenting with blockchain technology – also in healthcare. One of the most exciting initiatives, \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nebulagenomics.io\u002F\">\u003Cstrong>Nebula Genomics\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cstrong>,\u003C\u002Fstrong> co-founded by renown geneticist George Church and officially launched in November 2018, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.newscientist.com\u002Farticle\u002F2185211-a-new-dna-sequencing-service-wants-to-reward-you-for-sharing-your-data\u002F\">uses a blockchain-secured service to sequence people’s genomes\u003C\u002Fa> without charging a fee, and they offer rewards to those who let third parties access their data. The company even believes that the genomic big data market, which will soon emerge, could be secured by blockchain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>However, \u003Cstrong>genomic data storage is not the only way blockchain could be useful in healthcare. Numerous countries started to follow Estonia’s lead in securing their medical health records with the technology\u003C\u002Fstrong>, including the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.healthcaretownhall.com\u002F?p=9278#sthash.A4YZweaW.dpbs\">United Arab Emirates\u003C\u002Fa>. Moreover, \u003Cstrong>pharma companies are eager to \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Frobotics-blockchain-redesign-pharma-supply-chain\">\u003Cstrong>protect their drug distribution chains\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cstrong> through the blockchain to reduce the chance to counterfeit drugs.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In another example, in March 2018, the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalchain.com\u002Fen\u002F\">Medicalchain\u003C\u002Fa>, a decentralized, blockchain-based platform to securely store health records \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedium.com\u002Fmedicalchain\u002Fmedicalchain-announces-a-partnership-with-the-groves-medical-group-london-98c30372998b\">announced a partnership with The Groves Medical Group\u003C\u002Fa>, an organization with 30,000 registered NHS patients. It’s the first medical practice in \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.pmlive.com\u002Fpharma_news\u002Fblockchain_pilot_for_electronic_health_records_kicks_off_in_uk_1254650\">the UK that started to use blockchain technology through an app to give more control to patients over their medical records\u003C\u002Fa>. What’s more, users can easily buy medicine-related services via \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fbitcoinexchangeguide.com\u002Fmedicalchain-opens-myclinic-a-telemedic-platform-for-patient-consults\u002F\">MyClinic.com\u003C\u002Fa> using the Medicalchain cryptocurrency, MedTokens (MTN). The project is in its \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fbitcoinexchangeguide.com\u002Fmedicalchains-blockchain-built-myclinic-app-facilitates-first-medical-service-via-video-in-the-uk-paid-in-crypto\u002F\">pilot phase\u003C\u002Fa>, but we are curious how it will unfold in 2019.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F03\u002Fblockchain-in-healthcare.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17555\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F03\u002Fblockchain-in-healthcare.png 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F03\u002Fblockchain-in-healthcare-370x208.png 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F03\u002Fblockchain-in-healthcare-768x432.png 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F03\u002Fblockchain-in-healthcare-512x288.png 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F03\u002Fblockchain-in-healthcare-444x250.png 444w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>4) Diabetes ups and downs\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>When we went through the most exciting stories in 2017, we came to the conclusion that the beginning of a new era in diabetes care is upon us with such realities at that time as the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fliving-with-an-artificial-pancreas\u002F\">FDA-approved artificial pancreas\u003C\u002Fa> or such small, but significant innovations as a \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.medgadget.com\u002F2017\u002F12\u002Faccurate-glucose-monitor-integrated-inside-smartphone-case.html\">glucose monitor built into phone cases\u003C\u002Fa>. This year, \u003Cstrong>advancement in the field continued under the watchful eye of the FDA, for example, in June, the \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.medscape.com\u002Fviewarticle\u002F898453\">\u003Cstrong>organization has extended its approval of the MiniMed 670G system\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cstrong> (Medtronic) hybrid closed-looped system\u003C\u002Fstrong> for glucose measurement and insulin delivery (the so-called artificial pancreas) to include children with type 1 diabetes. Also, as many experts suspected a year earlier, the artificial pancreas is gaining momentum: its market is anticipated to reach $390.4 million by 2024, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.grandviewresearch.com\u002Fpress-release\u002Fglobal-artificial-pancreas-device-market\">according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>However, one of the year’s most exciting announcement came from a French company, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.pkvitality.com\u002F\">PKvitality\u003C\u002Fa>, announced in November that \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.medgadget.com\u002F2018\u002F11\u002Fcontinuous-glucose-measuring-smartwatch-kwatch-glucose-expected-soon.html\">it’s getting ever closer to unveiling the world’s first glucose measuring smartwatch\u003C\u002Fa>. The watch is supposed to be able to continue to measure glucose levels in real-time, providing results when needed and eventually triggering alarms to warn users of abnormal levels. Although we cannot place our hopes too high this time, as claims about easy and accurate assessment have already been made without tangible results.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For example, \u003Cstrong>it turned out irrevocably that the project for manufacturing contact lenses for detecting diabetes failed. Alphabet’s company, \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.bloomberg.com\u002Fnews\u002Farticles\u002F2018-11-16\u002Falphabet-s-verily-halts-diabetes-detecting-contact-lens-project\">\u003Cstrong>Verily Life Sciences halted one of its longest running projects with the announcement in November\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa>. The company said that the reason for shutting down the initiative was that it couldn’t get the experimental lens, which measures glucose in tears, to deliver assessments of blood glucose with enough consistency to be used as a medical device. Although we somewhat expected the disappointing news as there was no word about the undertaking for months, we still had a pinch of hope around the research.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-22533\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FArtificial-Pancreas.jpg\" alt=\"digital health technologies\" class=\"wp-image-22533\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FArtificial-Pancreas.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FArtificial-Pancreas-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FArtificial-Pancreas-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FArtificial-Pancreas-512x288.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.youtube.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>5) Chatbot struggles\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Chatbots have the potential to free up time for GPs by responding to simpler medical questions, making sense of health data or supporting medication management. \u003Cstrong>The general idea is that in the future, patients will not contact physicians or nurses or any medical professional with every one of their health questions but turn to chatbots first. After the little medical helper cannot comfortably respond to the raised issues, it will transfer the case to a real-life doctor\u003C\u002Fstrong>. It seems that the youngest generation is already comfortable with the idea: a \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fpharmaphorum.com\u002Fnews\u002Fgeneration-z-happy-to-be-diagnosed-by-chatbots\u002F\">survey involving “Generation Z” from Roche UK showed\u003C\u002Fa> that nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of surveyed 16-24-year-olds said they would be okay with being diagnosed by a chatbot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Several similar digital solutions are on the market: \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.messenger.com\u002Ft\u002Fizzyperiod\">Izzy\u003C\u002Fa> helps women track their period and serves as a birth control pill reminder. Bots like HealthTap, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fada.com\u002F\">Ada Health\u003C\u002Fa>, Your.Md aim to help patients find a solution to the most common symptoms through A.I. One of India’s top pharma companies, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Ftech.economictimes.indiatimes.com\u002Fnews\u002Ftechnology\u002Flupin-launches-first-chatbot-for-patients-to-know-about-their-ailments\u002F66768951\">Lupin, launched a chatbot named ‘ANYA’\u003C\u002Fa> designed to provide medically verified information for health-related queries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>However, \u003Cstrong>2018 was about the struggles of the first experiences with chatbots instead of successes.\u003C\u002Fstrong> \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.babylonhealth.com\u002F\">Babylon Health\u003C\u002Fa>, one of the new breed of paid, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.engadget.com\u002F2016\u002F11\u002F04\u002Fone-consultation-was-enough-to-sell-me-on-online-doctors\u002F\">doctor-on-demand services\u003C\u002Fa> partnered with the NHS in two projects. Some patients in London can sign up to use the app’s video consultations to communicate with a doctor instead of registering with the traditional GP service, while Babylon also delivers a telephone advice service called NHS 111 in north London. However, it was reported \u003Cstrong>late last year that some pilots in North West London were dropped as patients participating in the trial indicated that they would play the system to get an appointment with the doctor quicker. In July 2018, \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ft.com\u002Fcontent\u002F19dc6b7e-8529-11e8-96dd-fa565ec55929\">\u003Cstrong>it was announced\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cstrong> that Babylon Health faces regulatory scrutiny after complaints from doctors, who warn it can miss signs of serious illness.\u003C\u002Fstrong> Babylon Health’s other claim that its \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.itpro.co.uk\u002Fbots\u002F31401\u002Fdoctors-reject-ai-chatbot-that-is-more-accurate-than-a-gp\">chatbot is being able to diagnose medical conditions as accurately as a GP was also contested\u003C\u002Fa> by physicians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>These phenomena indicate that neither doctors nor patients do have trust in health chatbots yet and need reassurance. If they are patients, that should come from a medical professional and if they are GPs, from evidence and conviction that chatbots are accurate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F06\u002F012_health_chatbot.png\" alt=\"Google in healthcare\" class=\"wp-image-20750\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F06\u002F012_health_chatbot.png 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F06\u002F012_health_chatbot-370x208.png 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F06\u002F012_health_chatbot-768x432.png 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F06\u002F012_health_chatbot-512x288.png 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F06\u002F012_health_chatbot-444x250.png 444w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>6) FDA embracing digital health \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been proactive throughout the past 12 months in welcoming the latest digital health tech solutions and incorporating them cautiously into the practice of mainstream medicine\u003C\u002Fstrong>. For example, as already mentioned before, in June, the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.medscape.com\u002Fviewarticle\u002F898453\">organization has extended its approval of the MiniMed artificial pancreas system\u003C\u002Fa>. Also, the FDA announced the release of an at-home gene test that checks for three mutations associated with breast and ovarian cancer. As a direct-to-consumer test is affordable and can be obtained without a doctor’s permission, more people would be able to test themselves for common risks without the barrier of cost or access to the right facilities. The regulatory agency also approved Spark Therapeutics’ one-time gene therapy, for the treatment of patients with vision loss due to an inherited retinal disease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Regarding artificial intelligence, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002F10-exciting-digital-health-stories-2017\">Arterys built the first deep learning algorithm for cardiac imaging, approved by the FDA in 2017\u003C\u002Fa>. Already a year later, the agency cleared another 12 smart algorithms in healthcare. For example, Viz.ai, that analyzes CT results and tries to assess whether the patient has any signs of stroke or \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fdreamed-diabetes.com\u002F\">DreaMed\u003C\u002Fa> which is a diabetes treatment decision support product that analyzes data from continuous glucose monitors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Nonetheless, \u003Cstrong>one of the biggest news came in October when \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.novarad.net\u002F\">\u003Cstrong>Novarad’s OpenSight Augmented Reality System\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cstrong> received \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.accessdata.fda.gov\u002Fcdrh_docs\u002Fpdf17\u002FK172418.pdf\">\u003Cstrong>FDA clearance\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cstrong> for\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong> pre-operative surgical planning using the tech company’s AR headset. With the system, physicians can see both the 3D patient image from previous scans as well as the patient physically in front of them\u003C\u002Fstrong>. The tool could be used as an aid for surgical planning and going through a complex procedure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-22534\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FFDA-And-Digital-Health.png\" alt=\"digital health technologies\" class=\"wp-image-22534\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FFDA-And-Digital-Health.png 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FFDA-And-Digital-Health-370x208.png 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FFDA-And-Digital-Health-768x432.png 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FFDA-And-Digital-Health-512x288.png 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.fdli.org\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>7) CRISPR and the potentials of gene editing\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The issue of \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fwhat-can-you-achieve-with-crispr-therapy\">gene editing with all its legal, ethical and biological consequences\u003C\u002Fa>, with its potential to alter the lives of future generations, has to be taken seriously. Everyone was reminded on that when the most significant piece of news came a couple of days ago. A Chinese scientist \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.telegraph.co.uk\u002Fnews\u002F2018\u002F11\u002F26\u002Fchinese-scientist-creates-worlds-first-genetically-edited-babies\u002F\">claims to have modified the very blueprint of life, the DNA code of two babies\u003C\u002Fa> to try to bestow them a trait that few people naturally have – an ability to resist possible future infection with HIV, the Aids virus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As in many countries, including the US and the UK, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.theguardian.com\u002Fscience\u002F2018\u002Fnov\u002F28\u002Fscientist-in-china-defends-human-embryo-gene-editing\">it is illegal to create genetically modified babies, and scientists in the field have reached a broad consensus\u003C\u002Fa> that it would be profoundly unethical to try, the scientific community stands united in condemning the experiment. \u003Cstrong>Genome editing is not considered as safe, and any genetic modifications – whether beneficial or unintentionally harmful – affect not only the child but their children and future generations.\u003C\u002Fstrong> Jennifer Doudna, professor of chemistry and molecular & cell biology at UC Berkeley and co-inventor of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fnews.berkeley.edu\u002F2018\u002F11\u002F26\u002Fdoudna-responds-to-claim-of-first-crispr-edited-babies\u002F\">announced\u003C\u002Fa> that human germline editing should not proceed at the present time. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at the Scripps Research Institute \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nytimes.com\u002F2018\u002F11\u002F27\u002Fopinion\u002Fgenetically-edited-babies-china.html\">said the Chinese scientist went too far\u003C\u002Fa> and it’s way too early to use the CRISPR method on humans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>On the other hand, research efforts are underway with regards to other species or gene therapies for adult patients with inherited genetic diseases. For example, researchers in Oxford’s Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.ox.ac.uk\u002Fresearch\u002Fresearch-impact\u002Frestoring-sight-gene-therapy\">help restore eyesight to patients with genetic vision defects\u003C\u002Fa>. One of the methods is to inject working genes into the back of the eye. In the case of mosquitos, experts \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fhealth-technologies-to-eradicate-insects-transmitting-deadly-diseases\">want to „make” the insects entirely resistant to the parasite that causes malaria. Testing might start within 4-5 years\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-22535\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"491\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FCRISPR_Gene-Editing.jpg\" alt=\"digital health technologies\" class=\"wp-image-22535\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FCRISPR_Gene-Editing.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FCRISPR_Gene-Editing-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FCRISPR_Gene-Editing-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002FCRISPR_Gene-Editing-512x289.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.verdict.co.uk\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>8) Deep learning in medicine: the battle of A.I. and humans continue\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In the assumed battle between artificial intelligence and mankind, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) created an excellent visualization tool to see whether smart algorithms or humans are better in providing healthcare solutions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>There’s no question about the continuous advancement of deep learning algorithms, especially in medical imaging. In April, a group of German scientists and their colleagues showed these systems are better than experienced dermatologists at \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Feurekalert.org\u002Fpub_releases\u002F2018-05\u002Fesfm-mam052418.php\">detecting skin cancer\u003C\u002Fa>. In another study, researchers found that commercial software for automatically classifying breast density, and thus detecting breast cancer, can perform on par with human radiologists. What’s more, in the same month, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fspectrum.ieee.org\u002Fthe-human-os\u002Fbiomedical\u002Fimaging\u002Fmedical-imaging-ai-software-vulnerable-to-covert-attacks\">the FDA approved the first AI system\u003C\u002Fa> that can be used for medical diagnosis without the input of a human clinician. Researchers in the Personal Genome Diagnostics in Baltimore announced in September that they have developed a new method involving machine learning that automates the tumor DNA diagnostic process.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>At the same time, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fspectrum.ieee.org\u002Fthe-human-os\u002Fbiomedical\u002Fimaging\u002Fmedical-imaging-ai-software-vulnerable-to-covert-attacks\">Harvard Medical School researchers demonstrated\u003C\u002Fa> that A.I. systems meant to analyze medical images are vulnerable to attacks. The experts modified the pixels within some medical images waiting for classification. That amount of modification might seem like a minimal amount of noise to humans but tricked the algorithms into classifying these pictures incorrectly. The scientists noted their attacks could make deep learning systems misclassify images up to 100 percent of the time, and that modified images were imperceptible from real ones to the human eye. That’s incredibly worrying and shows how vulnerable smart algorithms are – when it comes to phenomena outside of their scope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F05\u002Fai-doctor-image.jpg\" alt=\"digital health technologies\" class=\"wp-image-17943\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F05\u002Fai-doctor-image.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F05\u002Fai-doctor-image-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F05\u002Fai-doctor-image-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F05\u002Fai-doctor-image-512x288.jpg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F05\u002Fai-doctor-image-444x250.jpg 444w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>2018 was yet again a great and turbulent year in science and healthcare. As nothing is certain except for the fact that more and more medical innovations will come next year, we can only promise that whatever happens, The Medical Futurist team will continue to cover every exciting development in health technology on every single one of our channels and provide the much-needed context in order to step into the future well-informed and confident.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ctable style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #eee; border-top: 4px solid #444;\" cellpadding=\"10px\">\n\u003Ctbody>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd style=\"width: 100%;\">\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>At The Medical Futurist, we are building a community for making a bold vision about the future of healthcare reality today.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002FFIbMejImnxs\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\">\u003C\u002Fiframe>\n\u003Cp>If you’d like to support this mission, we invite you to \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.patreon.com\u002Fthemedicalfuturist\">join The Medical Futurist Patreon Community\u003C\u002Fa>. A community of empowered patients, future-oriented healthcare professionals, concerned health policymakers, sensible health tech developers, and enthusiastic medical students. If there were ever a time to join us, it is now. Every contribution, however big or small, powers our research and sustains our future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.patreon.com\u002Fthemedicalfuturist\">\u003Cstrong style=\"background-color: #e71d3299; color: #000;\">Click here to support The Medical Futurist from as little as $3\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa> – it only takes a minute. Thank you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Ftd>\n\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003C\u002Ftbody>\n\u003C\u002Ftable>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"rendered":200,"protected":20},"\u003Cp>Instead of mind-boggling inventions, 2018 was the year when national governments, as well as healthcare regulators, started to embrace digital health technologies at scale. The year when Google, Amazon, Apple or Microsoft competed head-to-head for the biggest chunks on the healthcare market, and when the buzzword of the year award went to the blockchain. Here’s our guide to the top digital health stories from last year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",22563,{"_acf_changed":20,"footnotes":27},[31],[44,36,205,206,207,208,209,210,211,212,213,214,215,216,217,218,219,40,220,42,221],246,902,289,904,425,1166,1167,533,1168,134,548,144,570,168,636,791,816,[],[],[50,225,51,226,227,228,56,229,49,230,231,232,233,234],1709,1789,1883,2405,2917,2919,1619,3825,1631,1681,[236,14,59,60,61,62,63,64,76,68,237,238,239,240,241,242,243,244,245,246,247,248,249,250,251,72,252,74,253],"post-22530","tag-future","tag-health-chatbot","tag-innovation","tag-gene-editing","tag-technology-2","tag-digital-health-technologies","tag-digital-health-stories","tag-artificial-pancreas","tag-smart-algorithm","tag-ai","tag-healthcare-policy","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-crispr","tag-chatbot","tag-deep-learning","tag-791","tag-blockchain",{"id":201,"alt_text":255,"caption":27,"description":255,"media_type":79,"media_details":256,"post":129,"source_url":288},"TMF, DNA, genes, doctor, genetics, test",{"width":257,"height":258,"file":259,"sizes":260,"image_meta":286},870,489,"2018\u002F12\u002F056_topstories_02.png",{"medium":261,"large":265,"thumbnail":268,"medium_large":271,"large_old_512x288":272,"thumbnail_old_150x150":275,"medium_old_370x208":277,"medium_large_old_768x432":280,"large_old_512x288_old_512x288":283},{"file":262,"width":87,"height":88,"mime-type":263,"source_url":264},"056_topstories_02-370x208.png","image\u002Fpng","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002F056_topstories_02-370x208.png",{"file":266,"width":93,"height":94,"mime-type":263,"source_url":267},"056_topstories_02-768x432.png","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002F056_topstories_02-768x432.png",{"file":269,"width":98,"height":98,"mime-type":263,"source_url":270},"056_topstories_02-150x150.png","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002F056_topstories_02-150x150.png",{"file":266,"width":93,"height":94,"mime-type":263,"source_url":267},{"file":273,"width":113,"height":114,"mime-type":263,"source_url":274},"056_topstories_02-512x288.png","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002F056_topstories_02-512x288.png",{"file":269,"width":276,"height":276,"mime-type":263,"source_url":270},"150",{"file":262,"width":278,"height":279,"mime-type":263,"source_url":264},"370","208",{"file":266,"width":281,"height":282,"mime-type":263,"source_url":267},"768","432",{"file":273,"width":284,"height":285,"mime-type":263,"source_url":274},"512","288",{"aperture":117,"credit":27,"camera":27,"caption":27,"created_timestamp":117,"copyright":27,"focal_length":117,"iso":117,"shutter_speed":117,"title":27,"orientation":117,"keywords":287},[],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F12\u002F056_topstories_02.png",{"related_posts":290,"related_posts_footer":294,"cta_type":27,"cta_color":27,"subtitle":27,"related_books":20},[291,292,293],16849,16928,16952,[295,296,297],16977,17293,17208,{"yoast_wpseo_title":299,"yoast_wpseo_metadesc":300,"yoast_wpseo_canonical":194},"Top Digital Health Stories of 2018: From Amazon And Google To Gene-Edited Babies - The Medical Futurist","2018 was the year when governments embraced digital health technologies at scale. Just one example from our digital health guide to last year. Read on!",{"self":302,"collection":307,"about":309,"author":311,"replies":313,"version-history":316,"predecessor-version":320,"wp:featuredmedia":324,"wp:attachment":327,"wp:term":330,"curies":341},[303],{"href":304,"targetHints":305},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F22530",{"allow":306},[139],[308],{"href":142},[310],{"href":145},[312],{"embeddable":26,"href":148},[314],{"embeddable":26,"href":315},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcomments?post=22530",[317],{"count":318,"href":319},19,"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F22530\u002Frevisions",[321],{"id":322,"href":323},46534,"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F22530\u002Frevisions\u002F46534",[325],{"embeddable":26,"href":326},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia\u002F22563",[328],{"href":329},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia?parent=22530",[331,333,335,337,339],{"taxonomy":168,"embeddable":26,"href":332},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcategories?post=22530",{"taxonomy":171,"embeddable":26,"href":334},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Ftags?post=22530",{"taxonomy":174,"embeddable":26,"href":336},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fproject_category?post=22530",{"taxonomy":177,"embeddable":26,"href":338},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcontact_email_category?post=22530",{"taxonomy":180,"embeddable":26,"href":340},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fyst_prominent_words?post=22530",[342],{"name":184,"href":185,"templated":26},[],1789238013170]