These U.S. innovations are transforming medicine

Medical breakthroughs advance health care by helping doctors prevent and treat illnesses like cancer and diabetes, two leading causes of death. Physicians who adopt new technology tools find they can better interpret test results, diagnose disease and develop personalized treatments for their patients.

Here are three fields where U.S. innovation is improving health care.

Artificial intelligence

Doctors use artificial intelligence (AI) to screen images for signs of gastrointestinal cancer, leading to earlier detection and even prevention in some cases. AI brings “robust data to help physicians identify polyps or lesions during colonoscopies, which could lead to better outcomes for patients,” says Dr. Michael Ruchim, a gastroenterologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Launched during a 1956 workshop at New Hampshire’s Dartmouth College, the field of artificial intelligence has taken off in recent decades thanks in large part to advances in computing power.

AI image recognition technologies can also help doctors detect electrocardiogram and CAT scan irregularities and save valuable time in diagnosing health problems. According to Harvard Medical School, AI chatbots can also provide doctors data on similar cases to support their diagnostic and treatment decisions. The assistance is especially valuable in diagnosing rare diseases a doctor may not have encountered.

Precision medicine

Doctors increasingly use precision, or personalized, medicine to target treatment for numerous cancers, including of the breast, colon and lung, as well as melanoma, leukemia and lymphoma. “By tracking the genetic profiles of their patients’ tumors, doctors can learn which treatments work best for which patients,” according to Learn.Genetics, an online platform of the University of Utah.

In 2015, the U.S. National Institutes of Health launched an initiative to study how an individual’s genetics, lifestyle and environment affect his or her risk of disease.

Editas Medicine Inc., based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is working to edit genes to treat a disorder than can cause blindness. And additional research into personalized medicine holds promise for engineering T cells, associated with autoimmune diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and for designing drugs to target a specific patient’s cancer cells, according to Diana Brixner, founder of the Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Research Center at the University of Utah.

Digital therapeutics

Software in tablets, smartphones, smartwatches and other wearable devices can help prevent and treat disease, according to The Medical Futurist.

Digital therapeutic (DTx) apps help cancer patients adhere to treatment schedules and even deliver treatment to reduce pain or anxiety. Other DTx apps help patients manage asthma, diabetes, migraine headaches, sleep disorders and mental health conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Dr. Joseph Kvedar, a dermatologist who developed digital therapeutics in Boston in 1995, says these apps enable doctors to extend patient care beyond hospitals and clinics. “Think about the tools you have,” Kvedar says in an interview with Osmosis, a medical publication associated with the University of Richmond. He urges doctors to incorporate such tools into their practice “to deliver high-quality care in a more efficient way that’s convenient for the patient.”