Although a lot will happen in the next five years regarding technology used in healthcare, to some it will seem like small beer. An annual 2% decline in patents in medical technology makes it less likely that some stunning breakthrough will arrive soon. Although patent activity is more promising in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, business and politics conspire against us all in these fields. Hope I'm wrong...
Both the EU and the US will be focussing on interoperable healthcare records and more efficient data interchange. Expect breakthroughs in areas like greater use of software to detect potentential drug interactions and improvements in automated diagnostic tools. This is important and will save lives, as will improved communications between health care stakeholders.
Many improvements will feed through into healthcare after being invented and piloted outside of healthcare environments. This will include the routinely miraculous improvements in ICT efficiencies overall, but pay special attention to work being done in voice recognition software and automated translation tools, which will further improve communications.
Assisted living should get easier on a steady curve, with more intelligent devices to summon care and take care of household logistics, mostly via the internet. And stay tuned for surprises from the world of robotics--there may be domestic robots used in healthcare, both off hospital grounds and in the wards themselves.
Nanotechnology will play its part, mostly in terms of coating materials for stents, implants and devices, but to a certain extent in drug deliveries--but the major breakthroughs in that seem further out than five years.
Genetics and biotechnology will continue their tortuous mating dance with pharmaceuticals, but the courtship will be painful and the adjustment period long. Individual advances will continue to go unexploited and we will all continue to hold our breaths waiting for the big one. Maybe 10 years out. Maybe 20.
Overall good news, solid improvements--but everyone in the developed world is waiting for the big one. Not this time around.
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