How virtual medicine is revolutionising healthcare today

By Maria Kyriacou

How virtual medicine is revolutionising healthcare today
Technology and medicine are intersecting more than ever, resulting in new, safer ways of treating patients in remote areas.

The advances in 2015 so far read like a science fiction novel, and would have seemed so far-fetched just a few short years ago.

We’re almost getting used to body parts being created with 3D printers, as the technology is being used so frequently now. There are apps for just about everything, with the recent PEEK app set to dramatically improve the treatment for people who suffer from cataracts and other eye-related problems in the emerging world.

Ehealth’s benefits are already making headway in the Australian bush where services are often lacking, though demand is high. Over 1,200 people were screened in a trial by the CSIRO for eye diseases in Western Australia and Queensland.

By using retinal cameras, nurses were able to capture high-resolution images that were then uploaded by local health workers over the NBN satellite to medical specialists.

The project discovered that 68 people were at risk of potentially going blind. Dr David Hansen from Brisbane’s E-Health research centre said that people would have gone blind needlessly. Dozens more residents were also found with problems including early stage glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.

The success of this project is just one way that digital technologies are revolutionising the equity of healthcare across the world.

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