6Searching for the Fountain of Health: Can We Match Healthspan to Lifespan?
MEDICAL SCIENCE IS making astounding progress with the diseases and conditions of aging. Robots are conducting eye surgeries. Robotic underwear can assist the hips and lower back to support mobility and posture. Smart pills can monitor gastrointestinal functioning, and genetic editing will be able to improve digestive health by altering the microbes in people's guts. Deep brain stimulation, including with the help of virtual reality, is helping patients regain motor function after being paralyzed by strokes. Genetically reengineered T cells are returned to a patient's body as part of an immunotherapy approach to cancer treatment. 3-D bioprinters can produce living tissue, bone, blood vessels, and soon entire organ systems.
Artificial intelligence is getting into the game. Canadian health-monitoring platform BlueDot alerted its customers to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak a full nine days before the World Health Organization notified the public. BlueDot's AI algorithm combed through foreign-language news, information on disease networks, and official proclamations to pinpoint the outbreak. In addition, with its access to global airline data, BlueDot accurately predicted when and where the disease would spread.1
Just as notable is who's entering the business of health these days. As The Verge has reported,2 Amazon acquired PillPack and with it a medical records software platform. Apple, which has long ...
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