The first thing that came to my mind at the mention of this topic was on biomedical technology. Honestly, this is not a topic that I am very familiar with but back in jc, my classmates did a presentation on robotic surgery and hence I've decided to draw its link to our current discussion on biomedical technology.
This video here gives an idea of how robotic surgery works.
Indeed, medical technology has advanced to a stage where we no longer have to have surgeons using their hands and tools to make their way through the target organ, (like what Cheng Wei mentioned about laproscopic surgery and NOTES). It means that valves or vessels that were previously too small or narrow to be reached could now be targetted with the use of small yet precise incisions and tools that are connected to the robotic arm which are ultimately controlled by the surgeon. It also bids goodbye to the days when patients were traumatised by the amount of blood loss and scars that took eternity to heal, because what surgeons have now are a whole new technology that increases precision, minimises blood loss during surgery and likewise minimise scarring on one's body. But to date, conventional surgery seems to provide far more assurance than robotic surgery does partly because it is new and has its cons as well.
The flip side to it is that there could be higher risks involved. Simply speaking, patients fear because doctors are now not looking at them as it is, but rather looking at them using 3D cameras attached to the robotic equipment. If these equipment or robots were to fail in the midst of the surgery, what will surgeons do? Also, a greater pool of surgeons have to be trained in this aspect to endure the longer tedious process of surgery to ensure that patients' life will not be at risk because of their inadaptibility towards robotic surgery. That aside, costs could be another deterring factor as well, because now, robotic surgery is considered as in its early developments and it's costs are still pretty high. Only if eventually more and more surgeons adopt this method then will costs be likely to fall.
Back in August 2008, The National University of Singapore became the first country in SE ASIA to offer robotic surgery for cancer patients, bringing hope of a better surgery and recovery process. With more and more countries riding on this surgical breakthrough, it will be easier to convince patients to adopt a less painful procedure although at a cost higher than conventional surgery. Also, with wider undertaking of robotic surgery, it could, in future, even become the mainstream surgical process and eventually be affordable to many!
alright, enough said about robotic surgery. As always, Prof left us with a message saying "BioBusiness Revolution will transform our lives and our economies. Lives being our health,food,clothes,energy sources, others." This is very true. As in the case of agriculture, scientists are coming up with genetically modified food of various nature, such as being able to withstand extreme weather conditions and containing increased nutritious qualities. This helps reduce supply shock due to extreme weathers and could effectively provide a constant supply of food to the people. Similar, healthcare will go up because of biomedical advancements and the development of precise technological equipment which ultimately leads to improved living standards for the people. Therefore, the BioBusiness Revolution WILL change our lives, and hopefully for the better!
I felt that we could have talked more about the disruptive technologies in healthcare industry and more of other aspects like agriculture etc. I'd rate a 7.5/10!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment