As healthcare is moving toward greater consumerization, devices used for diagnostics are keeping pace and becoming leaner, meaner and even cheaper. Radiology, the “darkroom” of the healthcare world, is now coming into the light and directly into patients’ hands… so as to speak.
New-age diagnostic devices are changing the way we have conventionally diagnosed and understood diseases, and are no longer restrained to “just diagnosis.” Traditional radiology diagnosis involving CT, MRI, ultrasound, etc., included bulky, room-size equipment costing millions of dollars. However, in the past decade or so, new technology has unleashed a wave of creativity and innovation for both software and hardware, and is reshaping these products significantly.
The latest innovations at this year’s Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting in Chicago were primarily focused on smarter and safer diagnosis using smaller equipment. For example, the ultrasound that used to be as bulky and heavy as a refrigerator is now the size of a handheld “phablet” (Philips’s VISIQ), and yet it does the same job it did before, if not more. How simple is that? As simple as plugging an iPod into a speaker.
The future of the ultrasound will be plug-and-play devices that capture exceptional quality images. In fact, ultrasound technology is becoming smarter with software enhancement tools (e.g., Toshiba’s premium ultrasound called Platinum). With such tools, an ultrasound scan can be used as an initial diagnostic tool for identifying cancer and other diseases, which was not the case before. As ultrasound doesn’t require surgery to obtain the cancer tissue (biopsy) or using radiocontrast agent in CT/MR (which is hazardous and unsafe), it will significantly reduce the pain and cost of treatment for cancer patients.
Clinicians, and in some cases patients, can now seamlessly upload any patient-related data, such as medical imaging files or picture, video and audio files, from any device (tablet, phone and personal computer) to digital patient records and view them on any device (tablet, phone and desktops/laptops). Such innovation will also reduce diagnosis errors and speed up the communication process between various departments in the hospital and outside. This is one more step toward digital health. These latest radiology innovations help improve efficiency, accuracy and workflow, thereby enhancing the lives of millions of patients.
This article was written with contribution from Nitin Dixit, Industry Manager with Frost & Sullivan’s global Healthcare practice.