Treatments for cancer and stroke among top 10 medical innovations for 2019

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Starting next year, doctors will be able to evaluate a patient's genes to predict whether they might become opioid-dependent, or use a sweeping visor to treat stroke patients more quickly.

These are among the health care innovations that ranked among the top 10 medical innovations for 2019 at the Cleveland Clinic announced today at the Summit on Medical Innovation, sponsored by the Cleveland Clinic.

The top 10 list, which covers a variety of specialties, helps healthcare providers discover what's new in their fields and expand their knowledge, said Dr. Michael Roizen, Wellness Manager at Cleveland Clinic.

"Science goes so fast exponentially," said Roizen. He led a group of doctors and scientists from the Cleveland Clinic who selected the technologies to appear on the 2019 list, and today moderates the presentation of the top 10 medical innovations at the top.

Here are the Top 10 Medical Innovations of 2019:

1. Alternative Treatment of Pain: Fighting the Opioid Crisis: Chronic pain is the main reason why opioids are prescribed. Pharmacogenomic tests, which use genetics to predict how a person will respond to specific drugs, may allow physicians to customize pain medications by identifying patients who may become opioid dependent. "If you know it, you are doing everything so that the patient avoids his addiction," said Roizen. Pharmacogenomic tests can also help avoid unwanted side effects and predict who may not be receiving pain relief from opioids.

2 The advent of artificial intelligence in health care: Artificial intelligence helps physicians make more informed decisions about patient care and reduce burnout. For example, machine learning algorithms can help select diagnostic images such as MRIs and highlight areas that physicians should examine.

3 Expanded window for acute stroke intervention: When blood flow to the brain is cut off during a stroke, it can cause irreparable damage that often results in disability. Until now, an intervention aimed at restoring blood flow to the brain was only recommended in a limited amount of time. New guidelines suggest a longer treatment window, which should reduce the risk of disability and allow a greater number of stroke patients to recover better.

4. Progress in immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer: Cancer immunotherapy uses the body's immune system to fight cancer. New targets for immunotherapy and new biomarkers are being discovered, and advances in immunotherapy for some types of cancers have increased survival rates.

5. Patient-specific products obtained with 3D printing: Devices modeled from the specific dimensions of a patient are more likely to be accepted by the body, are more comfortable and allow better recovery. The technology was used during the Cleveland Clinic's recent full face transplant. 3D printing also makes it possible to create an exact copy of an organ or structure that surgeons can use to perform an upcoming operation.

6. Virtual and mixed reality for medical education: Virtual and mixed reality is used for simulation training that enhances traditional training in medicine. A virtual reality anatomy laboratory, equipped with laptops, joysticks and headsets for learning advanced technologies, will be located in Sheila Pavilion and Eric Samson, centerpiece of A new $ 515 million health education campus shared by Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University. it opens in 2019.

7. Visor for pre-hospital stroke diagnosis: Hemorrhagic strokes, which involve the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain, are responsible for nearly 40% of fatal accidents. The haemorrhagic scanning visor can speed diagnosis and treatment time by detecting bleeding in the brain.

8. Innovation in robotic surgery: Robots are used in operating rooms to help surgeons perform extremely accurate surgical procedures, or to remotely guide a catheter with the help of data from an MRI, Roizen said. . The benefits of minimally invasive robotic surgery include shorter recovery times and less pain after surgery.

9. Percutaneous replacement and repair of mitral and tricuspid valves: Many cardiac procedures can be performed percutaneously or with the help of a catheter inserted into the skin. This eliminates the need for open-heart surgery. Surgical interventions to replace and repair mitral and tricuspid heart valves are two currently performed percutaneous procedures. The results have been promising.

10. RNA-based therapies: This therapy corrects genetic abnormalities by interfering with genetic data contained in the RNA of a patient. RNA acts as a messenger carrying instructions from the DNA to control protein synthesis. The therapy is used against rare genetic diseases such as Huntington's disease, as well as cancers and neurological disorders.