John Abele, co-founder of Boston Scientific, speaking at the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy, FL, discussed the future possibilities in interventional therapy and stated that the convergence of specialties will drive future innovation. He began by stating that advances in interventional technology over the next five years will be greater than any of those experienced in the last 50.
Abele said that in the near future breakthrough technologies would bring about a sea change in the way new technologies are adopted, who uses or controls the technology, how they use it, where it is used, what it costs and how it influences others. Recent examples of such technologies include the fluoroscope, endoscope, catheterization, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, which resulted in 'old' technologies (and old technology suppliers) becoming obsolete and new skills emerging.
Over the next few years, Abele commented that imaging, molecular biology, nanotechnology (materials and robotics) and the internet will be at the forefront of change. In particular, he said that imaging developments would be at the forefront of interventional therapies. He mentioned that higher resolution and 3D mapping, coupled with new modalities such as fusion and biological imaging, will dramatically change the methods and means currently employed by the imaging community. Developments in image-guided therapies mean interventional radiologists are already at the forefront of the technology and if they further embrace advances they can maintain their advantage in this area.
Regarding molecular biology, he stated that faster development, mass customisation and gene therapy will all translate into better drug/device combinations and greater advances in regeneration technology. Abele cited the development of the world's first brain prosthesis (an artificial hippocampus), which is currently been tested in California. Unlike devices such as cochlear implants, which merely stimulate brain activity, this silicon chip implant will perform the same processes as the damaged part of the brain it is replacing. In addition, he mentioned the 'Heart Band-Aid', a specially developed muscle that is grafted onto the myocardium to improve pumping power.
Abele also touched upon the developments made in 'organ printing', an emerging branch of medicine that uses healthy cells to repair a damaged or diseased organ. But, as its name implies, this new medical technology needs ink, paper and a printer. Now, a new hydrogel (or 'biopaper') developed at the University of Utah has been selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to speed up this process. Initially, the five-year NSF study will try to print blood vessels and cardiovascular networks on the biopaper, but its real goal is to build some complex organs, such as livers or kidneys.
Abele believes that nanotechnology will bring about a greater precision and ease of use, with reduced costs. For example, physicists at University of California Berkeley, have devised the smallest electric motor in the world. The nanomotor is based on the shuttling of atoms between two metal droplets, one large and one small, on the back of a carbon nanotube. An electric current transmitted through the nanotube causes atoms to move from the big to the small droplet. In effect, potential energy is being stored in the smaller droplet in the form of surface tension. Abele added that in the future a combination of nanotechnology and biological medicine will combine, leading to the development of nanomedicine (as currently seen in coating and sensor technologies).
Abele believes that our understanding of nanotechnology will improve as molecular technologies improve, "the two go hand in hand," Abele claims. Therefore, he believes that it is interventional radiologists who have the imaging skills and experience necessary to embrace these technologies and stamp their mark on this exciting and emerging technology.
He concluded that, "In today's medical world, the disciplines of cardiology, radiology and surgery are converging quickly, but technological advances, especially the evolution of nanotechnology, is propelling this convergence".
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