Medical Potential of Psychedelic Drugs

After years of struggle with progressing cancer, Hazel was miserable, anxious, and depressed. Traditional cancer treatments had left her weakened and it was uncertain whether it would save her life. But then she had the opportunity of participating in a clinical trial to test an exotic drug. This drug was not meant to cure her cancer; it was meant to cure her terror. After a few hours of ingesting the drug, Hazel declared to the researchers, “Cancer is not important; the more important stuff is Love.” Her concerns about her impending death suddenly disappeared and the effect lasted for months.

The drug that led Hazel to re-evaluate her life was not a traditional anti-depressant or anti-anxiety drug. It was a drug that has been illegal for decades but is now the center of resurgence in research; psilocybin from the hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Psychologists and psychiatrists have been studying psychedelic drugs for many years as a treatment for disorders like alcoholism and depression. Psychedelics show promising results in assuaging some of the conditions that are hardest to treat viz., addiction, obsessive compulsive disorder, end-of-life anxiety, and depression.

Psychedelics may help. But the mechanism through which they work has left doctors and researchers baffled. These drugs use chemical pathways to trigger deep spiritual experiences that apparently lead to tangible, measurable, long-term changes in behavior.

“Psychedelic drugs are a potentially powerful way of understanding normal brain function”, says Dr. Paul Expert, methodologist and physicist.

Hallucinations, vivid images, intense sounds and better self-awareness are the trademark effects associated with most popular psychedelic drugs. The typical notion is that psychedelics do something additional to trigger their effects like increase activity, add hallucinations and promote awareness. Examining brain scans of people under the influence of psilocybin showed that it reduces activity in certain areas of the brain rather that increasing it. That decrease of activity leads to the drug’s effect on cognition and memory. Psychedelics, psilocybin in particular, might actually be removing the extra “noise” in the brain predicts researchers.

Ayahuasca is a concoction prepared with the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and leaves of Psychotria viridis containing the psychedelic compound DMT. An observational study conducted for evaluating the safety and long-term effectiveness for drug addiction and dependence reported positive and lasting effect. Brain scans show that ayahuasca increases the neural activity in the brain’s visual cortex as well as in its limbic system which is responsible for processing memory and emotions.

DMT (N, N-Dimethyltryptamine), which causes hallucinogenic experiences, is made up of a chemical compound that is endogenously present in humans. It is structurally similar to serotonin and melatonin and has properties similar to psilocybin and LSD. This means our brains are inherently wired to process the drug because it has the essential receptors to do so. DMT has been suggested to be used as a therapy in treating depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions and also to help in self-improvement and discovery.

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Medical Potential of Psychedelic Drugs

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The Mystic of Our Subconscious Mind

“Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.” Earl Nightingale.

We all know about our subconscious mind, but most of us don’t have enough knowledge about the function of it. The subconscious mind is our hidden mind that exists inside of our brain. Basically, it gives wings to our imagination. It elucidates and acts upon the most dominating thoughts that belong to our conscious mind, and the subconscious mind’s aim is to create a huge impact on circumstances and situations that match with our imaginations which we are having in our brain.

The best part of our subconscious mind is it doesn’t categorize, judge or edit our thoughts. It is always ready to accept our thoughts in the way they come and basically color them, whether these thoughts are positive or negative. It never calculates things like our conscious mind does. It depends on our thinking and expectations.

Essentially, the subconscious mind, conscious mind and higher consciousness are three aspects of consciousness. Each plays a fundamental role in creating many situations where we understand how the three are interrelated and how they work to make our subconscious mind more powerful. Actually, it is the most familiar and mysterious aspect of our life, without it, we could not experience life. But with it, we are perpetual.

The Way Our Subconscious Mind Works

The sub consciousness is the extremely powerful sequencer that runs every function of our life automatically without our conscious input. It controls functions like digesting the food we eat, our speaking language, walking on a road and ultimately all our habitual actions. Doctors call it is a storage place of our memory which never sleeps. Without sub conscious activity, our body would be unable to properly function as well.

Renowned writer Joseph Murphy explains that “when thoughts are conveyed to your subconscious mind, impressions are made in the brain cells. As soon as your subconscious accepts any idea, it proceeds to put it into effect immediately… it draws on the infinite power, energy, and wisdom within you. It lines up all the laws of nature to get its way. Sometimes it seems to bring about an immediate solution to your difficulties, but at other times it may take days, weeks, or longer… Its ways are past finding out.”

Aspects of Our Objective Mind

Brian Tract said, “The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.”  The conscious mind is also known as the objective mind or self-consciousness. It is handling our five senses, allowing us to understand the physical world consciously. Most importantly, it is supposed to be the sole commander of our subconscious mind. People have no idea about its incredible function; it allows us to behave as a human. Instead, we experience life in a zombie state.

Charles Haanel explains it this way in The Master Key System: “The subconscious mind does not engage in the process of proving. It relies upon the conscious mind to guard it against mistaken impressions. When the “watchman” is “off guard,” or when its calm judgment is suspended, under a variety of circumstances, then the subconscious mind is unguarded and left opens to the suggestion from all sources.”

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The Mystic of Our Subconscious Mind

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Organs-on-Chips: An Alternative to Animal Testing

Currently, approximately 130 million animals are used each year in experimental research worldwide. Meanwhile, independent surveys have shown that public support for animal testing has decreased considerably over the last 50 years. Furthermore, there is a growing opinion of scientist and researchers that animal experimentation is scientifically flawed for genetic, physiological and procedural reasons. Numerous scientifically and ethically superior replacements for the use of animals have already been developed, and many more are in development. Thus, the rapid replacement of animal experimentation with non-animal and human-based methods is a scientific and ethical imperative.

Great progress has already b een made in the development of non-animal research methods, including computational models, system biology, in vitro techniques, tissue engineering, microfluidics (organs-on-chips), bioinformatics, stem cell and genetic methods, advanced imaging techniques and other approaches.

One of the most promising techniques is the microfluidics organs-on-chip approach. This novel technique is just beginning to be developed by several companies in the lab-on-chip field, which will eventually allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the way our cells respond both in healthy and diseased states.

An organ or tissue-on-chip is a living, micro-engineered environment that recreates the natural physiology and mechanical forces that cells experience within the human body. These devices are being designed to be accurate models of the structure and function of human organs. Once these are integrated, researchers will be able to use these models to predict whether a drug, vaccine or biological agent is safe. By summarizing the multicellular architectures, physiochemical microenvironments, and tissue-tissue interfaces, these devices produce a level of tissue and organ functionality that is not attainable using the conventional 2D or 3D culture systems. They also enable high-resolution, real-time imaging and in vitro analysis of biochemical, genetic and metabolic activities of living cells in a functional tissue and organ context. For pharmaceutical companies, this technology offers a remarkable potential for predicting side-effects and efficacy.

The organ-chip consists of transparent channels lined with living cells and filled with a liquid containing nutrients, or blood, all interacting just as they would in the human body. Most organ-chips are made out of a synthetic material which is transparent for easy viewing of cells under a microscope. These chips contain minute structures to which the cultured human cells are attached. Given the right conditions, these cells will naturally arrange themselves and behave as they would in the body. Microfluidics is used to transport a blood-mimicking fluid along the channels and tiny pipes, bringing sustenance to the cells. These chips do not hold complete organs, just a small colony of cells necessary to replicate the function of one.

Organ-on-chip makes an ideal microenvironment to mimic human-specific pathophysiology and enable molecular and cellular scale analysis and identification of new therapeutic targets with their ability to host and combine the different cells and tissues to make up human organs. They allow recreating therapeutically relevant interfaces like the blood-brain-barrier, which has been engineered from human stem cells with a novel differentiation method to investigate drug pharmacokinetics and facilitate discovery of new therapeutics. They also open up the opportunities to investigate how environmental factors like cigarette smoke affect tissue health and physiology in individual patients.

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Organs-on-Chips: An Alternative to Animal Testing

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Engineered Babies: Would you Prefer Genetic Perfection?

Envision yourself sitting comfortably in a fertility clinic, sipping coffee, you pick up the menu and start choosing. Will you go for tall or short? Would you prefer blue eyes or brown? Would you fancy clever or funny? When you are done selecting, head down to the counter and order yourself a new baby!

With rapid improvements in scientific knowledge of human genome and our increasing ability to change and modify genes, this scenario of ‘designing’ your own baby could very well be possible in the near future. Although the concept of genetic engineering has always been on the mind of science fiction writers and biochemists for almost a decade, only recently has it been in the spotlight. This is due to the current successful events of gene editing.

Genome editing is biological editing in which DNA is inserted, deleted or replaced in a living organism using nucleases or molecular scissors. In the human genome, genetic information is stored in 23 pairs of chromosomes, and written only in four alphabets viz., A, T, G, and C. It carries coded information for all the processes one would require throughout life. This data is subjected to numerous factors which can alter the genetic make-up and lead to disorders. Thus this altered information if carried by either parent and passed on to the offspring can cause a genetic disorder. Even if the faulty gene is not expressed in the offspring, it nevertheless can act as the carrier of that disease. The only preventive measure for informed parents with a family history of genetic disorders is to screen the amniotic fluid for defective genes.

In the last decade, CRISPR/Cas9 technology has been the primary tool for those seeking to modify genes. It uses natural enzymes to target and slice genes with pinpoint accuracy. It has already been used to genetically modify nonviable embryos in China. Recently, a team of scientists in Oregon successfully modified the DNA of a human embryo by repairing a single gene mutation using CRISPR to cure a fatal heart condition caused by a genetic mutation. This could, in theory, mean that CRISPR would be able to prevent the same mutation from affecting any embryo.

Although, the process remains arduous and challenging as there are numerous genes responsible for one single trait. For example, something like height is approximately coded by 93,000 genetic variations. And considering current capabilities, it is next to impossible to test each of those genes to make any significant difference. Although it can take very little time to alter a single gene, altering thousands, and figuring out which ones to alter, is very time-consuming. The more complicated concept is the use of genetic editing for repairing genetic disorders like Alzheimer’s, Blindness and even Cystic Fibrosis. But access to such tools is limited and thus expensive, resulting in an increase in the economic divide.

The concept of using CRISPR for human reproduction is rejected at large by the medical research community. Besides, there seems to be little need for gene editing in human reproduction. It would be difficult, uncertain and expensive to achieve what can most likely be gained by other ways, particularly by selecting an embryo that has or lacks the gene. “Almost everything you can accomplish by gene editing, you can accomplish by embryo selection,” says bioethicist Henry Greely of Stanford University.

Moreover, recently when the researchers sliced out the faulty portion of the gene and tried to replace it with the correct version, the embryonic cells disregarded it and copied the healthy version from the other set of chromosome. Essentially, the cells ignored the DNA that was externally added and favored the DNA that was already present. This increases the possibility that instilling major changes in the human genome won’t work because the embryos will reject the editing. Nonetheless, with the technology coming into existence, many are worried that “designer babies” will be unavoidable. That, however, is far from the obvious.

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Engineered Babies: Would you Prefer Genetic Perfection?

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Improving Human Health with New Horizons in Medicine

Health is a matter of concern to all of us and it forms the backbone of each one of our life. Information and communication technologies are increasingly providing us with the tools and knowledge that we need for improving healthcare, offering solutions that benefit patients as well as healthcare professionals and institutions in both the private and public sectors worldwide. E-health can serve as a vehicle for the transformation of health conditions in the developing world, particularly for those living in rural and remote areas.

Need for a global vision in regard to health

As in other sectors of the economy, e-solutions and e-health solutions are intended not merely to resolve an ad hoc issue but to serve as the instrument for changing and improving the health system itself. An example of this: the computerized collection and transfer via satellite of epidemiological data relating to a given infectious disease are certainly interesting and of scientific benefit. While it can provide faster and more reliable means of collecting data over time, other than in cases of great urgency, it will have no direct impact on the approach being pursued for eradicating that disease in a given region. Without a global vision of health, there can be no continuity in e-health projects. Of course, this vision and the priorities that are associated with it must be defined and proposed by health professionals, but at the same time, it must have the support of the authorities and the community. Without a shared vision, there can be no shared viability in the future.

Melanoma Detection at an Early Stage

Melanoma is a cancer that instigates in melanocytes, which are deep epidermal cells that produces the pigment melanin. Optical scanners have promising sensitivity rates i.e., they identify most melanomas but show low specificity, i.e., many skin lesions are mislabeled as suspicious and proceed to unnecessary biopsy.  MelaFind uses a lens system that creates images of the light scattered back from the lesions, an illuminator that reflects light of upto10 wavelengths, and a light sensor to measure the tissue up to 2.5 mm beneath the skin’s surface. By using a skin disorder database the information from device is transmitted into the image analysis algorithms.

A treatment suggestion is also provided; i.e., MelaFind positive (high degree of morphological disorganization) or MelaFind negative (low degree of morphological disorganization). The goal is to relieve the patients with needless biopsy scars, with the added benefits of eliminating the cost of unnecessary measures. The key to melanoma cure is an early detection before cancer spreads beyond the epidermal skin layer.

Implanting Nerve Stimulating Device to Eliminate Migraine

With the changing lifestyle, persistent headaches are common. Stress has increased significantly due to excess work and as a result, patients have resorted to self-medication with known analgesic drug brands. For a headache, aspirin is the most common brand available worldwide. According to the world health organization (WHO), the occurrence of a headache among adults is about 50%. Electronic aspirin is an advanced technology and is a patient-powered tool for blocking SPG signals at the first sign of a headache. For example, relief from migraine, a cluster headache, and other facial and head pains. It is a medical technology which has been motorized for patients to help them relieve pain. In this technology, the miniaturized device is implanted using oral surgery, leaving no visible scars. The patient holds a remote controller up to their cheek and begins the neurostimulation therapy when he senses a cluster attack.

Needle-free Diabetes Sensor to Read Glucose-level

There is a biosensor system that reads the glucose levels without tearing the skin and has continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps, which is the best option for automating most of the complicated daily process of blood sugar management.

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Improving Human Health with New Horizons in Medicine

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Imminent Health Informatics of EHR

One doesn’t need a crystal ball to determine the direction that EHRs will take over the next several years. As providers move quickly to embrace EHRs, which are designed to store and share information from all providers involved in a patient’s care, health informatics specialists will continue to be in high demand as healthcare facilities implement new systems, upgrade existing databases and work toward achieving the three stages of “meaningful use.” The potent force shaping that direction will be the Meaningful Use criteria of the EHR Incentive Programs. So far the agencies have closely followed Health Information Technology Policy Committee’s recommendations, and it is likely that they will continue to do so in the future. Office of the National Coordinator, in turn, is accountable for forming the EHR certification criteria which safeguards that EHRs can perform to specifications that allow for Meaningful Use.

Electronic Health Record Systems have the potential to transform the healthcare system from a mostly paper-based industry to one that utilizes clinical and other pieces of information to assist providers in delivering a higher quality of care to their patients. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , was signed into law with an explicit purpose of incentivizing providers (e.g. hospitals and physicians) to adopt EHR systems. Healthcare Information and Communication Technology in the health sector can improve the quality of care, managerial efficiency, and cost savings. Many countries, including members of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation have been interested in ICT in the health sector and the dispersion of ICT into the healthcare industry. The HITECH Act of 2009 that was signed into law as part of the “stimulus package” represents the largest US initiative that is designed to encourage the use of electronic health records.

US healthcare spending far exceeds than that of other countries, yet the healthcare system fails to deliver high-quality healthcare regularly. The quality of healthcare across the continuum depends on the integrity, reliability, and accuracy of health information. Adoption of the Health Information Technology, including Electronic Health Records, is essential for the transformation of the current healthcare system into one which is more efficient, consistently delivers high-quality care, and is safer.

Ethical Concerns in the Use of Electronic Medical Records

A medical record in the past was information documented on paper for research, clinical, administrative and financial purposes. Its major drawback was regarding accessibility, and it was available to one user at a time. The use of electronic medical record systems raises important ethical concerns about patient privacy and confidentiality, medical errors, expectations of structured data entry by clinicians, documentation integrity, and provider-patient interaction. Clinicians and health care organizations need to define best practices and policies in the use of EMR systems to improve quality and maintain clinician efficiency without compromising patient welfare and safety.

Richer, More In-Depth Content

In spite of the initial slow acceptance of EHRs by healthcare organizations and clinicians, they continue to flourish and advance over time. Electronic health records have been transformational for large organizations, but the genuineness is that medicine in countries is mostly practiced by small medical groups, with limited finances and IT support. As a new trend, some outpatient clinicians opt to re-engineer their business model based on an EHR. Their goal is to reduce overhead by having fewer support staff and to focus on seeing fewer patients per day but with more time consumed per patient. When this is combined with secure messaging, e-visits and e-prescribing, the goal of the e-office is attainable. Buyers have a wide choice of features and cost to choose from. At this time cost is a major obstacle as well as the lack of high-quality economic studies demonstrating reasonable return on investment.

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Imminent Health Informatics of EHR

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Wearable Devices: The Future of Telemedicine Industries

Wearable technology is going to establish its place at a large scale to impact a new change to the healthcare sectors. It is nothing but some wearable devices provided with sensors that can be worn on the body and connected to an app depending upon the shape and specification of the device or product to perform certain tasks on the body. Everyone knows that healthcare industry spends a lot of time on research and experiment, but given the fast pace of the moving world and technology world, it is not the best solution to be followed. In order to reduce the hours spent on experiments, wearable devices are brought into the real environment which helps in understanding the condition of the body on a daily basis.

Today, these devices look same as watches, bands and glasses that are normally worn by the people that provide information and alerts for each part of the body specifically including the action and performance of the body. These abled wearable devices will be very useful to everyone that does not cause any side effects to the body. Here are some of the wearable devices which can help the people in the near future:

Smart Glove

Smart Glove is a high-tech rehab device with a lightweight of approximately 130 g, which can be worn effortlessly by connecting to its respective app and proceeding to play the rehabilitation games. The app is connected to a computer system which can accurately compute the amount of individual finger movements. It provides various kinds of motion tasks such as ADL-related tasks with entertainment while considering both clinical effectiveness and fun factors.

The algorithm automatically adjusts to the optimal level of difficulty with a bending sensor, a variable resistor, which changes according to the bent which helps the play to balance challenge and increase motivation. The sensor is a 9-axis movement & position sensor that consists of 3 acceleration channels, 3 angular rate channels and 3 magnetic field channels that measures wrist movements.

Fever Scout

The Fever Scout is a FDA-smart thermometer with flexible soft wearable patch worn under the armpits which will continuously measures temperature and sends information to the smartphone through an app. Rechargeable and Reusable Fever Scout is constantly monitoring the body temperature and it includes a wireless charging dock (3 AAA batteries). The mobile app track and alert the loved ones about the temperature seamlessly through the smartphone for up to 130 feet.

Fitness Socks

Garments and pieces of clothing that are worn every day will be sensor equipped in the near future. These smart socks are smart-fabric enabled wearable devices for health and fitness that can improve speed, pace, cadence and foot landing. Virtual coach provides audio and video real-time feedback when it is paired with a bluetooth enabled anklet of a run app which may also help to prevent injuries.

Glucose Watch Tracker

Glucose Watch is a wearable tracker which is equipped with a revolutionary biosensor that can measure the body glucose effortlessly and painlessly in just a matter of seconds when in contact with the skin. Nowadays, diabetes is rapidly increasing causing blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke, lower limb amputation. In order to control the risk of diabetes, glucose watch allows diabetics to self-monitor

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Wearable Devices: The Future of Telemedicine Industries

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Tele-health Technology: Need of the Hour!

Since ancient times, sound health has been accounted as one of the trails of ingenuity in a human being. It is believed that, “He, who has health, has hope, and he, who has hope, has everything”. The secret to success transpires on the road of a healthy body along with a sound mind. Time and again developments to foster basic necessities of health have been emerging globally. One such groundbreaking effort in this field is tele-health which believes that telecommunication and information technology, when united, can create massive benefits in the field of clinical healthcare.

Supplementing the users with transmission of Medical Imaging, Health Informatics, Video Telephony, Diagnostic Methods and Server Application for Prescriptions, telemedicine has not been covering market only for cutting barriers across rural communities, but to really leap the methodology and way human insight is going into medical field. In fact, E-health is an umbrella for tele-health, electronic medical records and other health information technologies. Delivering occupational and emergency health services to remote communities, travellers and employees on work place, the reach of Tele-medicines, interchangeably referred as Tele-health, has increased dramatically over the years.

The first system of telemedicine was basically designed in 1989 to diagnose and treat the patients of cardiac defibrillation by mobile cellular versions for the same. However, from isolated communities of previous century to new generation of 2018, society has been thoroughly enchanted with the recent developments on medical devices and how their compatibility with smart phones have paved way to a new future.

Wearable Medical Devices

Portable medical devices which are commended in measuring body workings such as heart rate, blood pressure, calories burned, glucose level and ECG postures have created the accessibility to health much easier and wider. These inventions have curtailed the long queues of basic health issues facilitating more time and energy to be saved. According to an independent survey, wearable and other digital health devices constituted 40% of more space at 2015’s consumer electronics show compared to previous records. This leads us to the idea of increased usage and demand of medical devices with their popularity at peak.

Smartphones as Medical help and New Diagnostic Apps

Development of latest multimedia sets and cell phones has created a humongous access to internet and as a result, there has been practical growth in using it for medical benefits. Many of the basic tests of oral and skin contamination have been possibly done by smartphones and its supporting features. It has also been accepted for self-diagnosis by simple tests of medical conditions. More or less, it has been able to efficiently give advice on food intakes and actions through certain Apps. Few therapy Applications and communication have facilitated the conditions to be identified at early stages which later on advices about visit to be paid to psychiatrists or required specialists.

Since last 18 years ATA (Annual International & Trade Show) has been the premiere forum for healthcare professionals and business executives working in telemedicine. It has been regulating the progress of various inventions in this field and also acknowledging the steps taken to enhance medical technology at more ease. Below are some listed technologies which have evolved as an effective example in Tele-health:

Health spots

Offering high quality of medical diagnostic to people anywhere at any time, Health spots have become affordable and preliminary checkup centers. Face to face interactions account for better responses to a treatment. This is supported by EHR i.e. electronic health records where data is easily transmitted and information is retrieved about the patient. A private, spacious, quiet atmosphere with security accounts for its popularity. It is available at employee’s sites, universities and is expected in other location in the near future.

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Tele-health Technology: Need of the Hour!

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Importance of Data Security in Healthcare

Currently, the healthcare industry is adopting new technologies rapidly. Predominantly, the Information Technology, which is used to assist both doctors and patients alike, and to improve the delivery of healthcare services. The most important section of a hospital information system today is the Electronic Health Record (EHR), where patient information is stored.

Furthermore, a countless number of applications are used by the hospital staff to monitor the medical facility’s performance in terms of financial efficiency and treatment success rates. In addition to this, Government and federal organizations also use IT solutions to check the quality and safety of healthcare organization. Moreover, patients use various health monitoring apps and devices to monitor their vitals and to communicate with doctors through mobile and wireless technologies.

Now-a-days as computers have become an essential part of our daily lives, it is increasingly important that data security is also placed front and center on our list of priorities. Mainly in the healthcare industry, where thoughts are often focused on saving someone’s life and rightly so, but securing access to interfaces and computer systems that store private data like medical records is also an essential factor to consider. Data security is a corresponding action between controlling access to information while allowing free and easy access to those who need that information.

Although extensive digitization of information in the healthcare sector has improved the healthcare services making them fast and efficient, the information security risk is also very real. In 2016, information security breaches in the healthcare industry affected more than 27 million patients.

Given the sensitive nature of healthcare data it is vital for healthcare providers to have a robust and reliable information security service in place. The strategies should not only react and protect the healthcare data, but also predict and prevent any assaults launched by cyber criminals. In the recent years, cyber criminals are interested in the electronic medical records as the black market rate for this kind of information is much higher than the credit card numbers or bank account passwords.

This trend might be surprising, but the reasons are quite obvious. Altogether, the data in the electronic medical records contains: patients’ names, their dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, places of work and positions, IDs, card numbers, medical and social insurance. Stealing of such information can lead to a complete identity theft, rather than just a one-time bank hack.

Another important reason is weak protection of patients’ data in medical institutions. Financial institutions like banks have already created a strong system of data protection. The two-factor authentication has become a universal standard for banks. The bank allows its client access to the information only after entering the One-Time Password. But on the contrary, in public health associations such systems have not being implemented in a long time and thus they become an easy victim for the cyber criminals.

Below are some of Healthcare data security tips that can be implemented to maintain a secure data environment:

Despite all the vulnerabilities healthcare data security encounters in the age of technology, there are enough ways to reduce these risks. Similar to any other type of organization, medical facilities needs data protection from dangers like; targeted attacks and hacking, virus infiltration, employee actions committed due to illiteracy or with a purpose to steal medical records.

The first two are generally eliminated by cyber security experts. To prevent the human factor, in addition to the administrative work with the staff, the medical institutions need to adopt a reliable means of strong user authentication when gaining access to the electronic medical records and patients’ data.

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Importance of Data Security in Healthcare

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Remote Healthcare | A Modern Medical Care

‘Remote Healthcare’ – one of the most finesse concepts that have evolved in the medical sector. In today’s modern society, everything is getting more modern including medicine and healthcare industry and that’s mainly because of the evolving technologies. The way Remote Healthcare is taking care by gathering and transferring the health-related data, it is gaining popularity. Nowadays, due to advancement in the mobility and sensor technology, remote healthcare has become a highly attractive concept for everyone.

Technology is becoming more pervasive. It is observed during a survey, that top pharma companies are having 63% more unique apps and the number of healthcare app has more than doubled in two and a half years. The fact that nearly about 75% people go online for health information, it becomes quite clear that Remote Healthcare has been proved to be extremely beneficial for patients. Patient’s expectation is to get better treatment with satisfaction and Remote Healthcare technology providing both high satisfaction and better treatment for patients.

The important key factors which are responsible for increasing the use of healthcare apps are trustworthy, accuracy of data, ease of use, simplicity, and design, and a guarantee of data security.

The benefits of remote healthcare for providers i.e., for doctors and for medical cares are that- they believe the technology can improve outcomes of health, minimizes avoidable service use, focuses on prevention, and promote patient independence. Real-time facts like paperwork time have lowered nearly about 60% because the hospital admissions itself has decreased by 35%, the patient’s face time i.e. the time taken by the doctors and patients to interact with each other, has increased by 29% this means they can probably spend more time with the patients, these are the evidence of remote healthcare technology are benefits for providers too.

Technology has power to improve access to healthcare services, especially for people with mobility problems, whereas opportunities in using mobile technology have also improved in this endeavor. The population of smartphones and tablets users is growing fast irrespective of any age group. Even the older generation is finding it fruitful due to the presence of heath support apps. People are getting attracted towards healthcare apps because of the notable development in the field. Additionally, smartphones are incorporating a growing range of sensors which monitors changes in physiology.

Remote healthcare includes one of the technologies called Remote patient monitoring (RPM). This RPM has an ability to remotely monitor patients is helping doctors to achieve great coordinated care. It is also called Homecare Telehealth, a type of ambulatory healthcare service that allows a patient to use a mobile medical device to perform a routine test and send the test data to a healthcare professional in real-time. Today we have a large number of availability of remote healthcare services using video-conferencing equipment, mobile services, internet access, remote monitoring devices and other tools. We can exchange real-time updates with doctors via smartphone, which is recorded for the further analysis.

Another one of the technologies called Microelectronic Technology (MEMS), which is basically focused on the ways to implant those microscopic devices on the body. With the help of this technology, one can have access and connection to smartphones, through which exchange of data can take place anywhere in the world.

The real excitement for doctors is –‘To be in two places at the same time’. And, that’s why doctors are able to keep track of more than one patient at a time and treat them in parallel. Basically, the devices which are given to patients will instantly measure vital signs such as blood pressure, heart rate, and sugar level etc.

Reasons Worth Investing in Remote Healthcare

Medical cares are increasingly implementing Remote Healthcare. Following are some reasons for the increasing interest in the Remote Healthcare.

Time-saving

Remote Healthcare technology minimizes the hospitalization time in order to support the patients in a given time period. So, patients do not need to wait for admission, and instead of joining waiting list or bed, they can receive treatment in their own home; and this can also help in reducing stress.

Relief for Staff

Medical center staff can now catch a breath through remote healthcare technology. All the monitored patients don’t lose the sense of safety because they can quickly contact a specialist whenever needed.

Control over treatment

The advanced solutions allow remote monitoring, observation of trends, and change dynamics in patient’s vital parameters. This advanced treatment increases the percentage of patients due to the improved treatment efficiency.

Remote Healthcare | A Modern Medical Care

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Smart Inhalers: Tackling Respiratory Maladies with IoT

Numerous devices and appliances are getting connected to the Internet day-by-day. Internet of Things is the new technology that has triggered a revolution all around the world. It has changed our day to day life to a great extent, from cell phones to washing machines and fitness bands and monitors. This new paradigm has wide ranging applications in various sectors, including healthcare. It has given hope to the healthcare sector, by allowing medical centers to function more efficiently and patients to obtain better treatments.

IoT in the healthcare market is growing progressively, and has various applications extending from remote monitoring to adhering to medication. With the increased use of IoT based systems in medical centers, it has shown a promising prospect to improve the quality and effectiveness of treatments and further improve the overall health of patients.

Technology has made healthcare easier on the pocket and also made it more accessible, for the patients. It has been observed over the years that medical diagnostics take up a large part of hospital bills. Technology has made routine medical checkups more home-centric for the patients, and accurate diagnosis has helped lessen the necessity of hospitalization.

One such IoT based solution that has recently caught the eye is the Smart Inhaler. Asthma is a chronic illness that has no cure and is thus prevalent lifelong. The World Health Organization testified that 250,000 people die annually due to asthma. The control medication and treatment of asthma consists of either completely avoiding triggers or regulation via control medication, that avert airway inflammation; or to stop spasms via rescue medicines, to reduce emergency room visits and deaths. An inhaler is a device that provides a measured and aerosolized dose of a wide assortment of medication that is administered to the lungs and air pathways.

Framework of a Smart Inhaler Device

Almost all the IoT based smart inhalers are sensors that act as a clip on to existing inhalers. It has a GPS extension which allows it to track when and where the puffs are taken by the patients. These sensors are linked with an app that the patient needs to install on their smartphone. This information is readily conversed to the app by the sensors via Bluetooth on the smartphone or a plug-in hub. These are often used as a part of the asthma management program, under a physician’s regulation. It is a digital platform consisting of a custom sensor which records and transmits the treatment acquiescence data.

The Smart Inhaler platform enables the physicians to effectively monitor the inhalation technique and frequency, capturing factors such as inhalation flow rate, flow speeding, inhalation volume, stimulus time, as well as the patient’s usage of the inhaler. The data that is generated by the app is an important tool which offers the user simple metrics and tailored advice for a more real supervision of their condition.

Benefits that the IoT based Smart Inhaler Platform Offers

Adherence to the medicine routine is a major issue that patients and physicians face. The patients often neglect the medications that are given to them to control their condition and end up using the rescue inhalers very often, putting themselves at a severe health risk, which can lead to loss of effectiveness. This trend has been observed for many years now. The key feature of the IoT based Smart inhaler is that it helps the patients adhere to their medication routine, and also allows the physicians to monitor their patients remotely.

The smart asthma inhaler precisely archives usage- when each dose is taken, it transfers this status to doctors, and helps keep the illnesses at check. This technology also gives automatically generated reminders, through the app, informing the patient to use the inhaler whenever necessary. Identification of the pattern, in the usage of the inhaler by the patients can aid the doctors in better understanding and controlling the respiratory disease. This makes the patient aware of the triggers, like pollen or temperature and helps keep them well-informed which helps to avoid Asthma attacks, preventing hospitalization.

The GPS sensor of the inhaler is a unique feature which actively records where and when the puff was taken, with this data over a period of time, it comes up with a pattern, without any necessity of personal diaries or other conscious entry of information. The time and location data for each use is linked with a wide range of factors from environmental, geographic, traffic, to numerous neighborhood data, thus creating a map of asthma attack incidences. With the help of this understanding of when and where the prophylactic puff of rescue medication was taken, the trigger of the attack can be altogether eliminated.

Read more at : Smart Inhalers: Tackling Respiratory Maladies with IoT

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