Technology in Medical Treatment

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Welcome back after the break. Just to remind those of you who have just joined us, this week we’ve been talking to a number of experts about technological advancement in different spheres of life. Today with us in the studio is Daniel Brooks, a physician who has spent his whole career searching for technological solutions in medicine. Daniel’s team is renowned all over the country for cutting-edge surgeries and saving many lives. Apart from working in the operating theatre, Daniel also collects and shares information about new treatments with his patients and their families.

He’s probably the most popular doctor in this country. Oh come on, I’m just doing my job the best I can. And the most modest one too. Daniel, you’ve just been taking calls from the listeners and from what I know there have been some pretty serious questions to answer. Is that right?

Yes, that’s true. It’s hardly surprising that people are keen to ask questions about new treatments and new technologies in medicine. I took a lot of calls from patients who are desperate for some innovative treatments for their problems because no other medicines have been able to help them. Some of the callers were actually doctors themselves asking about the costs of the medical equipment, but they were a minority. Most were people genuinely suffering from all kinds of diseases.

So what technological inventions did you tell the callers about? For example, a technology which is now under clinical investigation and which will help people with severe migraines. To put it simply, a small implant will be placed in the upper gum. And when the patient feels the onset of a headache, he or she will just have to press a special remote control to stop the pain-causing transmitters. Sounds wonderful.

Anything else? Yes, this invention will delight patients suffering from diabetes. These people have to take insulin shots by themselves, and it’s quite a painful process. A device is being invented to replace the needle used to do it with a patch which does not prick your skin. Generally speaking, the trends are to come up with devices to alleviate as much pain as possible.

I understand that these new inventions don’t come cheap. Who will be able to afford them? Well this is always a sensitive issue. I think medical companies always want to make as much as possible from their ideas. But eventually, the devices become standard practice and their price decreases.

So there’s hope they, I mean the devices, will one day be mass produced and therefore will not only help the wealthy. Sounds promising. I’ve also heard of robotic checkups. Could you tell us more about them? It’s connected with so-called telemedicine, which uses robot-like machines to monitor people’s health.

Robotic checkups are to be run by devices which look like mobile carts with two-way video screens and medical monitoring equipment. They are programmed so that they can move around hospital wards and halls. They will help doctors and nurses by saving them a lot of walking about. Might they one day replace doctors or surgeons completely? Should all hospitals rely more on technology than people?

I doubt it. You still need human judgement and compassion to treat people properly. Thank you Daniel for sharing all this with us. Thank you for inviting me.