OpenMind reveals the more human side of advances in medical technology in 2015
OpenMind, in its undertaking to disseminate knowledge for the community, this year has continued to publish a series of articles, reports, infographs, books and videos on the most important issues of our time. One of the areas it has looked at in depth is the advance in the world of medicine, providing numerous contents exploring the use of technological innovation to improve health.
OpenMind started out in 2015, within the field of medicine, with a video showing the building of BigBrain, one of the most ambitious projects currently underway on the human brain. This is a high-resolution 3-D reproduction of our body’s control center, which multiplies the level of detail in previous models by 50. It is so powerful that it enables scientists to see neurons by simply zooming in on the image, and reveals the internal structure and functioning of the brain.
Technology that humanizes
Carlos Bezos, head of scientific projects and projects with patients in IVF-SPAIN, and one of the almost 200 contributors to OpenMind, explained in this article the potential of technology in the field of customer care, making it more effective and paradoxically, more human. Thanks to technological advances, it is becoming ever easier to place people at the heart of their healthcare and customize their treatments.
OpenMind also published an article on how wireless technology can be used to overcome paralysis. The report focused on the work of the Braingate team, which set out to create an artificial nervous system to stand in for the damaged one. This is a challenge reminiscent of science fiction, but which is beginning to look increasingly possible.
Technological devices are proving their efficacy in poor countries where medical attention is scarce and unreliable. OpenMind revealed the seven solutions for diagnosing diseases in the most vulnerable areas of the planet. They have all been shown to be cheap and effective in the early detection and treatment of such serious pathologies as HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis. In another article on this subject, OpenMind announced a new advance from MIT: a smart stethoscope that allows the diagnosis of lung diseases simply by connecting it to a cell phone.
Nanotechnology, which has driven the advance of many medical applications, was another subject highlighted by OpenMind, as it has been demonstrated that it can be effective in treating cancer. If this finding passes the phase of clinical trials, a new, more effective, and less toxic chemotherapy will be possible thanks to nanoparticles.
OpenMind will continue to serve as a meeting point and a channel of dissemination for knowledge throughout 2016, with new content that will be created thanks to the contributions of all those who wish to take part, and the members of its community. Its website will continue to track all the new advances that exceed our wildest flights of imagination, and explain them in a straightforward way that makes them easy to understand for everybody.