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7 Amazing Medical Breakthroughs That Will Wow The World In 2017

Leukemia therapies, augmented reality, and advancements in Alzheimer's treatments are leading the charge for the future of health care.
Kristen Sturt

1. Tricorders

On the original Star Trek, Dr. McCoy (a.k.a. “Bones”) carried a sensory device called a tricorder to record and relay medical information. Soon, thanks to Qualcomm’s $10 million XPrize competition, that neat fictional gadget could become a health care reality.

Over the last five years, teams from the U.S., the U.K., Canada, India, and Taiwan have competed to develop their own functional tricorders—portable tools able to diagnose health conditions and take real-time vital signs like blood pressure. The winning design will be announced in early 2017, with the hope that, eventually, individuals will be able to use it at home, “to assess and manage their health independent of a hospital or doctor’s office.” Live long and prosper, indeed.

2. (CAR) T-cell Immunotherapies

There have been such tremendous advancements in treatments for blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, that the five-year survival rate for children with Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is now over 85 percent. And starting in 2017, those kinds of numbers may leap even higher.

For the first time, pending FDA approval, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy will be made available to “high-end” cancer centers around the country. In this kind of cellular immunotherapy, white blood cells called T-cells are extracted from a patient, treated at a special laboratory, and then returned to the patient to fight cancer cells. Trials on kids with ALL have proven very successful, with high rates of complete remission. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society notes that studies of CAR T-cell therapy on multiple myeloma,chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and some types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) have also been “very promising,” as well.

3. Augmented Reality

When Pokémon Go burst onto the scene this past July, millions of everyday Americans got their first taste of augmented reality (AR), in which a computer digitally enhances the sights and sounds of real-life environments. While some AR tools have already made inroads into health care—like AccuVein, which maps out patients’ veins for phlebotomists and nurses—the incredible technology will become even more widespread in 2017, as it:

  • teaches doctors and medical students how to do certain surgeries, procedures, and dissections
  • helps patients envision their own conditions, treatments, surgeries, and recoveries
  • maps out the locations of health care providers and life-saving equipment (like defibrillators) for the public in case of emergency
  • It’ll be years before they’re a reality, but AR implants for the eyes and ears are coming down the pike, too. Google and Samsung have already filed patents for lens implants intended to monitor glaucoma and deliver medicines.

4. Synthetic Blood

From prosthetic limbs to artificial hearts, pacemakers to ear implants, we’ve figured out how to replace darn near every part of the human body. But until fairly recently, blood was a bit of a pipe dream. Not so anymore.
In 2017, England’s National Health Service (NHS) will conduct early safety trials, in which about 20 people are given small amounts of synthetic blood made from stem cells. The short-term goal is to create red blood cells to treat specific conditions and illnesses, like sickle cell anemia. The long-term goal? NHS scientists hope to make enough for transfusions for people with rarer blood types.

5. Mobile Stroke Treatment Units

When a stroke hits, every second counts; it’s estimated you lose about two million neurons each minute after the event, and the longer you go untreated, the worse the damage to your brain. That’s why a Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit (MSTU or MSU) could be a lifesaver. 
 
Usually staffed by paramedics, a nurse, and a medical imaging specialist, among other emergency personnel, an MSTU is essentially an ambulance dedicated to the fast diagnosis and treatment of strokes. When a dispatcher calls in a stroke, the MSTU is mobilized to the patient’s home. Once it arrives, the team is able to determine whether a stroke is caused by a blood clot, administer a drug to dissolve that clot, and then bring the patient to an appropriate hospital.
 
Early studies of response time are promising, and there are currently units in Cleveland, New York, Houston, and Denver, with more coming every day. In fact, one source reports that by late 2017, an MSTU will be available to more than 40 percent of major-city emergency rooms.

6. Interoperability

If there’s one advancement medical experts and the press seem most excited about, it’s interoperability, or, the ability of health care information technologies—like a hospital’s digital systems—to communicate with each other. For those who have wondered why the billing department can’t get on the same page as your doctor, this is the breakthrough for you.
 
Set to debut in 2017, Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) is a kind of tool dedicated to saving money and lives by improving the speed and efficiency of health data transferal. Essentially, instead of transferring entire documents, which causes a backup, FHIR transfers specific bits of health care information—a word, a code—from one place (ex: your doctor) to another (ex: billing). This means health care workers don’t have to go through tons of extraneous information to get the data they want, making your experience faster and your records, more accurate.
 
On a more personal level, the technology will make it easier to create health apps, as well, which could filter down to patients in years to come.

7. Ultrasound Therapy for Alzheimer’s Disease

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 1 in 3 current seniors will die with the condition or another dementia. And while we’re still a long way from a cure, there’s one encouraging treatment set to begin human trials in 2017: ultrasound therapy on amyloid plaques, which clump around neurons and are believed to contribute to Alzheimer’s.  
 
Back in 2015, Australian researchers found the sound waves generated by ultrasounds cleared amyloid plaques (pictured) in mice, 75 percent of which performed better on memory tests afterward. There was no damage to the surrounding tissue, and the treatment could be much cheaper than drugs that perform similar functions, reports The Wall Street Journal. Of course, duplicating the results in humans is a much harder endeavor, thanks to our thicker skulls and more sophisticated brains. Still, researchers are optimistic about the long road ahead.
 
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Before You Go

7 Awesome Ways Relationships Can Boost Your Health
Relationships Can Help Boost Cancer Survival ...(01 of07)
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A just-published study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests that marriage may help improve cancer survival rates. According to the findings, men and women who were married were about 20 percent less likely to die of cancer during the three-year study period, regardless of how advanced the disease was (although it's worth noting that the benefits appeared to be stronger for men). The "why" isn't clear, and the study does not establish cause and effect, but researchers hypothesize that having someone who cares for you and who helps you understand your diagnosis might be behind the connection. And it's not the first study to show a link; a paper published in November 2012 found that socially isolated women were more likely to die of breast cancer than their counterparts with close social ties. (credit:Getty)
... And They Can Help You Cope With Cancer.(02 of07)
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Last spring, the same researchers who looked at how social ties may influence breast cancer survival published a study that found that breast cancer patients who regularly have positive social interactions -- and who have strong support overall -- are better able to deal with the associated emotional stress and pain of cancer. "Social support helps with physical symptoms," study researcher Candyce Kroenke, an investigator with Kaiser Permanent's Division of Research said in a statement. (credit:Getty)
Being Social Can Combat Cognitive Decline ...(03 of07)
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As Time reports, a 2011 study that followed a group of more than 1,000 older adults, (whose average age was roughly 80) found that the most social seniors had a 70 percent reduction in their rates of cognitive decline over several years, versus their least social counterparts. According to Time, the same team of researchers previously found that sociability also decreased the likelihood of becoming physically disabled. (credit:Getty)
... And Strong Social Ties Can Boost Longevity.(04 of07)
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A 2010 review of roughly 150 studies measuring the frequency of human interaction and health outcomes, found that having strong social connections can improve a person's odds of survival by 50 percent. Conversely, so-called "low social interaction" was found to be more harmful than not exercising, twice as harmful as obesity, and the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day Psych Central reported. Why? “When someone is connected to a group and feels responsibility for other people, that sense of purpose and meaning translates to taking better care of themselves and taking fewer risks,” one of the study authors told that publication. (credit:Getty)
Friends Can Help You Lose Weight.(05 of07)
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When it comes to relationships and weight, the overall picture is a bit complicated: Some studies suggest that women are likely to gain weight after getting married. But as The Daily News reports, a 2012 study found that friendships can influence weight in more positive ways. High school students were more likely to lose weight, or gain it at a slower rate, if they had a slimmer group of friends. However, that same study also found the opposite to be true: students with friends heavier than they were were more likely to gain weight.What we take away from this is that surrounding yourself with people who have healthy lifestyle habits can help you emulate them. Worry less about how small or large your waistline is, and more about using your social connections to motivate yourself to exercise and eat well. (credit:Getty)
Motherhood Can Make You Act Healthier.(06 of07)
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A BabyCenter poll of more than 20,000 moms found that once women entered into motherhood, 83 percent said they ate more healthfully, or were trying to improve their diets, while 65 percent said they were exercising more (or planned to) and 69 percent said they were keeping a closer eye on their mental health. That last one is extremely important, as motherhood can also have negative effects on women's mental health, namely, through postpartum depression. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 8 and 19 percent of women report experiencing frequent postpartum depression symptoms. (credit:Getty)
Marriage Can Help Your Heart (In More Ways Than One).(07 of07)
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As LiveScience reports, a preliminary study presented last August found a link between marriage and reduced cardiovascular risk factors, like high blood pressure, among women specifically. And the longer the marriage, the bigger the benefits appeared to be: Every 10 years of continuous marriage was tied to a 13 percent decrease in cardiovascular risk, LiveScience explains. (credit:Getty)
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