HEaltH cHEck
Pharmaceutical & medical
Evaluating the progress of digitalisation in
medical care
COVID-19 has pushed the healthcare industry to rapidly increase reliance on digital technologies to minimise virus transmission. With a British Medical Journal (BMJ) survey finding that 88 per cent of GPs would like a greater use of remote patient consultations to continue beyond the pandemic, could we be on the cusp of a fourth healthcare revolution? Here, Stewart Goulding, managing director at precision drive system supplier Electro Mechanical Systems (EMS), looks at the innovative technologies that are paving the way for Healthcare 4.0
change. The pressure to continue to provide healthcare services as safely as possible during the pandemic has increased the adoption of digital technology by both provider and patient. This has been catalysed by the £32
T
million of funding for research and development in transformative healthcare technology projects announced by the Government in September 2020. One of the six technology projects set to receive the funding is a walk-through artificial intelligence (AI) x-ray scanner that can diagnose cancer more quickly and in more complex cases, such as if tumours are particularly hidden in the body. The boost of investments, combined with
the progress in digital integration made during the pandemic, is triggering a change in the healthcare system, advancing it into the fourth revolution.
THE DIGITal laB Healthcare has a long way to go before it reaches the level of digitalisation the manufacturing industry possesses, which has undergone widespread adoption of automation and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) over the past two decades. However, this slower pace does not mean digitalisation is not already beginning to
20
he healthcare sector has previously lagged behind other industries in digitalisation, but this is starting to
show its benefits in the medical sector. Key technologies that have been used in
industrial manufacturing have spread to pharmaceutical development and production. For example, AstraZeneca’s NiCola-B robot can test up to 300,000 compounds a day and, being a collaborative robot, can adapt to the presence of humans and safely work alongside them in the lab. Dealing with paperwork and managing
administrative tasks can be a major bottleneck in pharmaceuticals. Robots are also capable of alleviating this stress by performing a variety of other tasks in the laboratory, such as scanning incoming medical test samples and sorting them into their designated area according to their digital records. In production, robots can help package medicines by accurately filling containers and placing caps on bottles — another time consuming and tedious task for human workers.
HEalTHCarE aT yOur fInGErTIPS While the digitalisation of the laboratory goes on behind closed doors, new technologies are also available in the palm of patients’ hands. Mobile health (mHealth) is the practice of placing medicine and public health data on mobile devices. There are over 400,000 healthcare apps available, and a survey by digital health start up Quin found that the use of
January 2021 Instrumentation Monthly
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