Digital Health Trends: What To Expect In 2019?

At the dawn of the new year, we examined which digital health trends will the market concentrate on in the coming months. We identified so many thrilling novelties and noteworthy events that we decided to publish our findings in an e-book. Top Trends In Digital Health In 2019 will give you a cutting-edge overview of where healthcare and medicine are heading, and until you download the document, here’s a glimpse of what to expect in 2019.

1) The car will be the point of care

As patients turn into the point of care and the entire healthcare system moves towards becoming invisible with the help of myriads of tiny diagnostic devices and gadgets measuring vital signs, the car will be an inevitable place for providing care.

Transparency Market Research recently published a report that forecasts the global market for automotive active health monitoring systems will increase at a 67% compound annual growth rate from 2018 to 2026. Major driver health initiatives are already underway by Audi, BMW, Ford, Mercedes, Volkswagen; and Volvo will propel the automotive active health monitoring.

No matter whether it’s the seat, the steering wheel, the seatbelt or any other part of the car which come in contact with humans – the equipment will act as a biometric sensor to measure vital signs passively and store the data in the cloud. For example, Bosch, a German supplier of technology to many automotive companies, is developing a camera-based system that will monitor head and eye movements, as well as body posture, heart rate, and body temperature – to help avoid falling asleep at the steering wheel.

2) Smartwatches measuring important vital signs

The new Apple Watch, the Omron Heartguide, and the Withings Move ECG (honored as the best wearable at this year’s CES tech circus), are just the latest three hits in the smartwatch with health measurements sector. Their common denominator is that they can all measure clinical-grade ECG and ensure a multifaceted overview of the wearer’s heart health status.

So it seems that Apple has to pull it together. It doesn’t matter the ECG-featured Apple Watch came out at the end of last year, numerous competitors are coming up with smartwatches with ECG features, so it has to provide the most accurate medical-grade measurements possible on the market if it wants to stay in the healthcare game.

Regarding the bigger picture, The Medical Futurist expects ECG and blood pressure smartwatches to thrive: medical professionals will include them in clinical practice, especially diagnostics. Due to traditional measurements, these medical devices will bring the new “industry standard” formats to heart monitoring and the control of cardiovascular diseases. We also expect the ECG Holter measurement to switch to a smartwatch – although, for that, we might want to wait for another year.

3) Genomics and the blockchain

The exponential rise of the amount of genomic data coupled with the sharing and purchasing practices of DTC companies already envisage the birth of genomic big data markets. The White Paper on Nebula Genomics states that the opportunities around personal genome sequencing will soon create a genomic big data market worth billions of dollars. As the global genomics market size is expected to reach USD 27.6 billion by 2025, The Medical Futurist expects that in 2019, we will hear much more about the new big data market as well as the concerns around genomic data privacy.

To protect individuals’ DNA information, some start-ups are experimenting with bringing genomics onto the blockchain. It would allow for the circulation that is needed to accelerate research while protecting this uniquely personal information by keeping anonymized identities separate from cryptographic identifiers. That’s the reason why we are keeping our eyes open for initiatives such as DNA.Bits or Nebula Genomics. The latter was co-founded by renowned geneticist George Church and was officially launched in November 2018, and it uses a blockchain-secured service to sequence people’s genomes without charging a fee, while offering rewards to those who let third parties access their data. The Medical Futurist expects to see several other initiatives in 2019 which try to mitigate genomic privacy issues with the help of the blockchain.

4) Discussions about a global FDA

In recent years, with the digitization of healthcare and the spread of communication technologies, the idea of borderless health started to emerge, and we expect it to reach a tipping point and represent a widespread practice instead of a sporadic phenomenon soon.

The Medical Futurist expects to see the increase in the supply and demand of cross-border health services in the coming months. Just imagine a French patient sending a tissue of his tumor to a Belgian company specializing in precision diagnostics. They establish that a Swiss pharma company has the exact type of clinical trial that the patient could use, so the joint efforts of numerous healthcare systems get them healed. The development of digital health tools alongside with the ease in communication among health facilities enable the globalization of healthcare.

On the other hand, cross-border cooperation needs oversight, standardization of care procedures and appropriate regulation on a global level. Not to speak about various emerging medical treatment methods, such as gene editing and gene therapy. The Medical Futurist foresees the emergence of a “global FDA” so standards of digital health tools, ethical and legal regulations around the latest innovations in healthcare can be on the same page. Discussions about the need as well as the details how to set up the institution will emerge in 2019 as the situation is ripe for the global harmonization of digital health activities.

5) An FDA-approved bioprinted tissue

The FDA has been actively supporting the adoption of 3D printing technology in the biomedical and dental industry. In 2017, the agency made a statement regarding its commitment to the technology and released guidelines for manufacturers submitting 3D printed implants and other medical devices. At the end of last year, the FDA also announced it is reviewing the regulatory issues related to the bioprinting of biological, cellular and tissue-based products to determine whether additional guidance is needed. During the year, the agency organized workshops and meetings to prepare the regulatory body as well as the players of the industry for the coming changes.

In the meantime, the most well-known player in the field, Organovo, and the other bioprinting companies are actively developing a viable technology to manufacture synthetic tissues through 3D bioprinting. In December 2016, pre-clinical trial data showed that 3D bioprinted liver tissue has been successfully planted into lab-bred mice, and expectations were high about Organovo applying for FDA clearance within 3-5 years. The Medical Futurist expects 2019 the year when that might happen.

Did you have an Aha moment and you would like to dive into the details of the 14 digital health trends further? You can find our e-book here, and we encourage you to give us your feedback, your comments and your expectations about 2019 on our online channels. We would love to hear from you!

Dr. Bertalan Mesko, PhD is The Medical Futurist and Director of The Medical Futurist Institute analyzing how science fiction technologies can become reality in medicine and healthcare. As a geek physician with a PhD in genomics, he is a keynote speaker and an Amazon Top 100 author.

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