Envisioning the future of health technology

Technology is the ultimate democratizing force in society. Over time, technology raises lowest common denominators by reducing costs and connecting people across the world. Medical technology is no exception to this trend: previously siloed repositories of information and expensive diagnostic methods are rapidly finding a global reach and enabling both patients and practitioners to make better use of information. This visualization is an exercise in speculating about which individual technologies are likely to affect the scenario of health in the coming decades. Arranged in six broad areas, the forecast covers a multitude of research and developments that are likely to disrupt the future of healthcare.
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GM AU

ION AT NT E

2040

AUGMENTATION SENSORY

Artificial retinas

Te ch no l bu ogic tc a o

Telescopic & microscopic vision Augmented hearing

2030

Hopel body p ess sear arts w ches ill fad for m e aw atch ay a ing s sy don nth ors etic an or g d th row e ir -to rep -or lac der eab org ilit an y o ics f m are ajo fu r o rth rg er a

REGEN

Enhanced metabolism

SYNTH ETIC & ARTIF ICIAL Artificial limbs ORGA NS Artificial generalpurpose cells

ERAT

ION

d d. an ope ns vel de

Artificial muscles

NEUR OPRO STHE TICS

Optogenetics Neuroprosthetics

Augmented olfaction Myoelectric prosthesis Auditory vision substitution Hybrid assisted limbs

2020
Artificial vascular system

3D printed organs
distribute a single 'miracle drug create and 't ient to isely targeted for a person's unique o an characentire po sufc n be prec ter r is it ents ca istics pulatio onge treatm n . No l

vanced sensors wi bution of adation into idiosyncll turn diagnoses stri ratic, data f and diomplete inform -drivenrom know ent inc m proce ledge velop ses with e es dure he d gu s. able T

Exoskeletons

Tissue regeneration Synthetic blood

SENSORS External

Internal

Blood stream sensors Tissue-embedded sensors Medical tricorder Ingestible sensors Rapid gene sequencing Question answering computing systems

3D PRINTERS

D IAGNOST I CS

In-clothes

At-home

Epidermal sensors Non-invasive glucose sensors Open health records

Data-driven patient communities Data-driven diagnostics

Envisioning the future of health technology

envisioningtech.com/health/

Personalized medicine 3D-printed drugs

Enterotype treatments

TREATMENTS

Bioelectronic drugs Stem-cell treatments Prenatal gene manipulation Gene therapy Nanocomposite drug carriers

App-driven diagnostics Natural language processing Robotic surgery AR surgery assistance Anti-aging drugs Virtual triage

Anti-aging stem-cell treatments

DATA BIG

Telemetrics

MHE

ALTH
Full body simulation Robotic healthcare assistants

2020
Suspended animation Full-body cryopreservation

Genetic engineering

REM

o ta rks nt a ph nd ys mo ica b l p ile res tec en hno ce lo of gie the s r Full brain simulation ir p emo ati ve t ent he s to nec ma essit ke a y for diag medi nosi cal pr s or perfoactitioners rm pr ocedure s.

TELE

P R ES E

MED

NCE

ICINE

RYONICS C

2040

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IOG B

NT RO E

GY LO O

Updated: September 2012 Sources: envisioningtech.com/health/ Follow: @envisioningtech

Research & design: Envisioning Technology Find out more: envisioningtech.com/health/

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OTE V I

RTUA L

AI therapists

2030

Reverse cryonics

LI

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ION NS

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