Embracing medical innovations to bring a change to the existing structure of healthcare facilities has always been an indispensable part of setting up a world of vigor. High-quality neurological and psychiatric care is also crucial to serving the public with a proper nervous flow and sanity to tackle the challenges with ease. Several innovations in the field have been planned to deliver the best results in patients. A few emerging technologies that have the potential to revolutionize neurological and psychiatric care were launched in Boston in 2015 as a part of the World Medical Innovation Forum. Around 100 nominations were elicited from neuroscience experts to narrow down to a dozen. Let us look at these emerging technologies in the neurological and psychiatric care departments.
1. Diagnosis and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease
Detecting Alzheimer’s disease long before the manifestation of symptoms was the object behind developing the therapies for early diagnosis and treatment. “Alzheimer’s-in-a-Dish” is an experimental set of drugs helping reduce the brain’s amyloid content. It will also aid in the detection of biomarkers through blood tests. According to studies, Alzheimer’s cases are bound to rise in the coming years, and with this early intervention, the disease progression could be reversed.
2. Stem Cell Therapy
Several neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease that lack effective therapies can be treated using stem cells. It can be used as a form of replacement therapy for all these health issues.
3. Smart Brain Prosthetics
The brain is the central organ of a human body, and without its proper functioning, the whole system can crash. People who have post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, or bipolar traumatic brain injury can benefit from the implantable wireless brain devices. Movement in areas with physical limitations can be restored with this technology.
4. Psychiatric Rapid Interventions
Severe restraint depression can be treated with several new therapies that include ketamine, low-field magnetic stimulation therapy, and medical gases. Some of the most common severe psychiatric disorders can also be treated and stabilized rapidly with these therapies.
5. Focused Ultrasound
Tissues deep within the bodies or in visceral areas can be targeted to detect any form of malignant growth or other issues using the transcranial MRI-guided focused ultrasound. Incisions and radiation wouldn’t be required once this technology becomes prevalent in the healthcare sector. The precision and quick patient recovery features of the focused ultrasound can revolutionize Alzheimer’s and brain cancer treatment.
6. Brain Biomarkers
Multiple neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders have a certain way of appearing on the diagnosis sheet. The advanced equipment will allow the researchers to identify these diseases’ biomarkers on the brain-imaging patterns with ease.
7. Gene Therapy Advancements
Neurological conditions require gene therapy, but the previous technologies haven’t been effective over the years. However, the clinical trials in the last few years have shown positive signs, indicating that gene therapy applications can replace the disease-causing genes. Several conditions like epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and ALS can be cured or treated to a certain extent with this technology.
