The 11th annual list was announced Wednesday during the Cleveland Clinic 2016 Medical Innovation Summit, held this week at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland and the adjacent Global Center for Health Innovation.
A team of more than 100 doctors and researchers assembled by the Clinic examined nearly 200 nominations to identify and rank the top 10 innovations. The panel doesn’t highlight brands or companies, but rather the innovation and its potential applications in healthcare.
The Top 10 Medical Innovations of 2017 are listed below in order of anticipated importance:
1. Using the microbiome to prevent, diagnose and treat disease
The National Microbiome Initiative has accelerated research and development, and biotech companies are looking at the microbiome’s potential to develop new diagnostics or therapies and probiotic products to prevent microbe imbalances.
Experts believe that next year the microbiome will solidify itself as “the health care industry’s most promising and lucrative frontier,” according to a news release.
2. Diabetes drugs that reduce cardiovascular disease and death
Empaglifozin modifies the progression of heart disease by working with the kidneys, and liraglutide has a comprehensive effect on many organs, according to the release.
2017 could bring a complete shift in the medicines prescribed and further research into new ways to target type 2 diabetes, experts predict.
3. Cellular immunotherapy to treat leukemia and lymphomas
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies are a form of immunotherapy in which T-cells are removed and genetically reprogrammed to find and destroy tumor cells. After attacking and killing foreign cancer cells, they often remain to minimize the risk of relapse.
The treatment, results for which have been impressive, is expected to be presented to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next year for treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
4. Liquid biopsies to find circulating tumor DNA
Several companies are developing testing kits expected to hit the market this year.
Liquid biopsies are being hailed as a flagship technology of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative, a national effort to end cancer.
5. Automated car safety features and driverless capabilities
The automated features include collision warning systems, drowsiness alerts and adaptive cruise control. More are likely coming.
Though legal and safety questions remain, major investments into driverless cars are being made by software, private transportation and auto manufacturing companies.
6. Fast healthcare interoperability resources
An international committee called HL7 will soon release a new tool, FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources), which will serve as an interpreter between systems or offices. The first release will focus on clinical data while the second will look at administrative data, with the potential to end a lot of frustration.
7. Ketamine for treatment-resistant depression
Initial studies of ketamine, a drug commonly used for anesthesia, indicated that 70% of patients with treatment-resistant-depression (“TRD”) saw an improvement in symptoms within 24 hours of a low-dose injection. Ketamine, also known in the 1960s as a party drug, was studied for its ability to target and inhibit the action of N-methyl-D-aspartate (“NMDA”) receptors of nerve cells.
The FDA granted Fast Track Status to the development of a new NMDA-receptor-targeting medications based on the ketamine profile. The FDA gave some, like esketamine, breakthrough status, enhancing the potential for these drugs to be available to patients in 2017.
8. 3D visualization and augmented reality for surgery
Using data, stereoscopic systems create visual templates. Surgeons who’ve piloted the technology say it brings added comfort and visual information that allows them to operate more effectively and efficiently while also giving medical residents a clear picture of what they’re doing.
Augmented reality glasses that display holographic images of human anatomy could bring the end of cadaver labs at medical schools.
Along the same lines, software companies are building augmented reality glasses that display holographic images of human anatomy. Medical schools see the end of cadaver labs. The Clinic and Case Western Reserve University were among the early adopters to work with Microsoft’s HoloLens, a mixed reality device that allows users to interact with holograms.
9. Self-administered HPV test
HPV prevention and treatment, which have made great strides, are restricted to women who have access to tests and vaccines.
An approach to expand that care will launch in 2017 with self-administered HPV test kits developed by scientists with the idea that women can mail samples to a lab and be alerted to dangerous HPV strains.
10. Bioabsorbable stents
Annually 600,000 people are treated for coronary artery blockage with metal coronary stents, which stay in their chests permanently most of the time. These stents may inhibit natural blood flow or cause other complications.
Experts believe the market potential for absorbable stents will approach $2 billion in six years.
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