Medical Tech Outlook Weekly Brief
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Healthcare industry is on a rigorous path to become more effective, concerning medical imaging, which they intend to do by improving diagnosis while increasing efficiencies and minimizing the cost.
Alex D'Souza
Fremont, CA: Medical imaging is saving millions of lives each year, helping doctors to detect and diagnose a wide array of diseases, from cancer and appendicitis to stroke and heart disease. Because of non-invasive early disease detection is capable of saving so many lives, scientific investment continues to increase. Many technologies impact healthcare; here are the biggest trends in medical imaging that is dominating 2020.
AUGMENTED REALITY
As embraced by many industries, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are finding new applications in healthcare. For instance, surgeons these days can prepare for surgery by studying radiology scans of the patient and three -dimensional imaging has improved their capability to visualize the patient anatomy excellently. With the help of AR, medical images can be converted and mounted on AR headsets which the surgeon can wear while performing the surgery. 
CINEMATIC RENDERING AND DIGITAL TWIN TECHNOLOGY
For understanding the complex functioning of organs like the heart, 3-D images can be combined with additional information to feed into the cinematic rendering tools. This provides realistic visualization of the organ functions that can enable the surgeons to plan the procedures, explaining medical procedures to patients, as well as to help better diagnose disorders. This is one way how technology can help in making the right diagnosis for patients in real-time, therefore ensuring quicker treatment and better overall well-being.
Similar in concept is the digital twin technology.
THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTING
Patients are briefed about the procedure that they are about to be carried out before surgery. Few innovative approaches have used AR techniques to help patients understand their anatomy, and what will be going on during the surgery. Thus, for various reasons, 3-D printing is also useful for surgeons to be better prepared for the surgeries.
Without a doubt, there are many technologies impacting healthcare, AI is dominating this year, with a smaller focus on 3-D imaging and printing. Other areas such as cybersecurity are beginning to emerge in radiology as well, and the privacy of patient records is an essential topic in radiology as well.
