The Most Exciting Medical Technologies of 2017

It is almost a tradition for me to publish my predictions for the coming year. I do not mean to disappoint you this year either, so here you find my thoughts about the top medical technologies of 2017.

1)     A new era in diabetes care

In 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the world’s first artificial pancreas. The device monitors blood sugar and supplies insulin automatically, replicating what a healthy version of the organ does on its own. It is the biggest step towards a new are in diabetes management in years.

The breakthrough happened years after the #wearenotwaiting movement started to campaign for the introduction of such artificial pancreas on the market for enabling diabetes patients to live an easier life in a sustainable way. Dana Lewis, one of the leading figure of the movement also told the TMF how an artificial pancreas eases everyday life. I believe that in 2017, this new way of diabetes management will spread around, and it will become a life-changing milestone in many patients’ lives when they first start to use the device.

The development of diabetes care does not end there. Google patented a digital contact lens that can measure blood glucose levels from tears as an added benefit. Google launched a partnership with the pharmaceutical company Novartis; and while there is rather silence around the state of the developments, there are rumours about it becoming available for trials in 2017.

2)     Driverless trucks or cars will include health sensors

In 2017, we have to prepare for the spread of cars with more and more automated functions. In September, Uber startedoffering rides in self-driving cars in Pittsburgh, a notoriously demanding urban environment. The company teamed up with Volvo to fulfil Uber’s objective to replace its more than 1 million human drivers with robots - as quickly as possible. Volvo trucks have gone through Europe already without drivers – how amazing is that!

Parallel with striving for the introduction of driverless cars as soon as possible, companies are equipping cars with as many sensors as possible. As we will spend more passive times in 2017 in these vehicles, Uber, Volvo or Tesla will start implementing health sensors into the driver’s seat. I believe that the car itself is going to operate as a point-of-care in the future.

3)     SpaceX and NASA will realize they need a digital health masterplan to reach Mars

In September, Elon Musk, CEO of the SpaceX rocket company aroused hope in astronautics again for the greatest pleasure of the fans of space flights. He promised no less than to take humanity to Mars. I followed Musk’s brilliant and inspiring speech online and I got really excited about his vision. His words rang in my head for the next couple of days, and I started to think about the realities of the mission to Mars.

I think the biggest obstacle in reaching Mars and installing the conditions of life there is the current state of healthcare and medicine. I believe that 2017 will be the year when NASA and SpaceX will realize that they not only need a masterplan for revolutionizing the transportation industry and space travel, but also in digital health.

4)     An insurance company launches a wearable sensor package

I believe that 2017 will be the year when the behemoth system of health insurance will start to change with data provided by patients. Oscar Health, the hipster insurance company, already set something off. It has built upon the idea that without quantifying health, insurance is the riskiest business of all. With the help of Oscar Health, insured people can submit their Fitbit data and if they reach their fitness goals, they get $1 every day. It helps keep people healthy and motivated with a simple but quantifiable reward.

It is predicted that 245 million wearable devices will be sold in 2019. As more and more accurate data sets about our lifestyle through trackers and wearables become available, it is inevitable insurance companies will try to utilize them. I believe that in 2017, a large insurance company (not a start-up!) will launch a package containing wearable sensors and guidance about living a healthy life by measuring data in 2017.

5)     Vocal biomarkers: the future of diagnostic medicine

Not long ago, scientists discovered that the identification of distinctive vocal features that are, in every way, imperceptible to humans, might have a huge impact on setting up a diagnosis. These characteristics were named “vocal biomarkers.” These can serve as a diagnostic tool for your physician to indicate signs of illnesses ranging from stress and depression to cardiovascular diseases. An earlier diagnosis could essentially be the difference between life and death. The Beyond Health Research platform is analysing such biomarkers, and an Israeli company, Beyond Verbal is launching a platform solely committed to analysing emotions from vocal intonations.

I believe that vocal biomarkers will gain ground in 2017. Instead of focusing only on biomarkers measured in blood or genomic markers analysed by geneticists, vocal biomarkers which are easy to detect, record and analyse will be used more and more for detecting and preventing diseases.

I hope 2017 will be the year when we acknowledge that a cultural revolution is on the way only triggered by new technologies. 

This article is part of the LinkedIn Top Voices list, a collection of the must-read writers of the year. Check out more #BigIdeas2017 here.