Lim Yi Jin

16301056076

Describe how computer program and related technologies helped

medical and biological science development. You should give specific
examples to support your ideas.

The 20th century saw major advances in biology, with the discovery of DNA
and greater understanding of the underlying mechanisms powering life
functions. With these discoveries came great challenges, some which cannot
be solved in the lab by an experiment. For example, the DNA that makes up
the human genome contains over three billion base units, only a few
segments of which are actually genes. Parsing, searching, and organizing the
three billion letters of human DNA are problems that computers are uniquely
suited to handle. In the late 1980s, computers were well on their way to
becoming ubiquitous and scientist were in a position to use them towards
achieving their grand vision. New medical and biological developments and
techniques have changed the face of healthcare. This would not have been
possible if not for computer program and related technologies.

Computer program and related technologies have brought many benefits to

the field of medicine and biological sciences, in terms of making information
more accessible. Known as the International Statistical Classification of
Diseases, the ICD-10 is the latest revision of this diagnostic tool. This
classification allows illnesses, unusual findings, external causes and
symptoms to be coded. It encompasses 14,400 different codes, as well as
additional sub-classifications. The World Health Organization provides
information online and offers ICD-10 training for doctors. This tool is able to
trace diagnoses and allows a country to track its morbidity rate. It is used to
retrieve and store diagnostic information.

Computer program and related technologies have also helped in accurate

diagnosis of diseases. With the help of computer programs and related
technologies, the accuracy of clinical diagnosis has increased drastically. For
example, the MelaFind Optical Scanner. With the most deadly form of skin
cancer, melanoma, a huge number of dangerous-looking moles is actually
harmless, but has always been impossible to know for sure without an
invasive surgical biopsy. The MelaFind optical scanner is not for definitive
diagnosis but rather to provide additional information a doctor can use in
determining whether or not to order a biopsy. The goal is to reduce the
number of patients left with unnecessary biopsy scars, with the added benefit
of eliminating the cost of unnecessary procedures. The MelaFind technology
uses missile navigation technologies originally paid for the Department of
Defense to optically scan the surface of a suspicious lesion at 10
electromagnetic wavelengths. The collected signals are processed using
heavy-duty algorithms and matched against a registry of 10,000 digital images
of melanoma and skin disease.

With computer and technologies, patients have benefitted from the new
inventions and developments in medicine and biological sciences. The
electronic aspirin is one such example. For people who suffer from migraines,
cluster headaches, and other causes of chronic, excruciating head or facial
pain, sometimes taking painkillers would not help even a bit. Doctors have
long associated the most severe, chronic forms of headache with the
sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG), a facial nerve bundle, but have yet found a
treatment that works on the SPG long-term. A technology under clinical
investigation at Autonomic Technologies, Inc., is a patient-powered tool for
blocking SPG signals at the first sign of a headache. The system involves the
permanent implant of a small nerve-stimulating device in the upper gum on
the side of the head normally affected by headache. The lead tip of the
implant connects with the SPG bundle, and when a patient senses the onset
of a headache, he or she places a handheld remote controller on the cheek
nearest the implant. The resulting signals stimulate the SPG nerves and block
the pain-causing neurotransmitters. This might actually be a revolutionary
invention since patients do not have to take medicinal aspirins anymore, and
this will also benefit those who are allergic to aspirins.

Secondly, patients with diabetes can now suffer less. Diabetes self-care is a
pain. It brings the constant need to draw blood for glucose testing, the need
for daily insulin shots and the heightened risk of infection from all that poking.
Continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps are today's best options for
automating most of the complicated daily process of blood sugar
management, but they don't completely remove the need for skin pricks and
shots. Echo Therapeutics is developing technologies that would replace the
poke with a patch. The company is working on a transdermal biosensor that
reads blood analytes through the skin without drawing blood. The technology
involves a handheld electric-toothbrush-like device that removes just enough
top-layer skin cells to put the patient's blood chemistry within signal range of a
patch-borne biosensor. The sensor collects one reading per minute and sends
the data wirelessly to a remote monitor, triggering audible alarms when levels
go out of the patient's optimal range and tracking glucose levels over time.

Another invention, Sapien transcatheter, is the alternative to open heart

surgery for patients who need a new valve but cannot endure the rigours of
the operation. Manufactured by Edwards Life Sciences, the Sapien has been
available in Europe for some time but is only now finding its first use in U.S.
heart centers, where it is limited only to the frailest patients thus far. The
Sapien valve is guided through the femoral artery by catheter from a small
incision near the grown or rib cage. The valve material is made of bovine
tissue attached to a stainless-steel stent, which is expanded by inflating a
small balloon when correctly placed in the valve space. A simpler procedure
that promises dramatically shorter hospitalizations is bound to have a positive
effect on the cost of care.

In a more general way, computer programs and technologies have helped in

day-to-day operations in the medical field. Doctors often use X-rays and CT
scans in order to acquire more information about a patient before diagnosing
them. X-rays and CT scans produce images of the body's internal structure
through the use of radiation. After running these tests, doctors search for
abnormalities that can explain problems at hand. X-rays allow doctors to look
at a patient's internal structure from one, two-dimensional angle. CT scans, on
the other hand, use a computer to compile X-rays and create a
multidimensional view. Computer programs are used to assemble the X-rays
in a way that reflects the structure within a patient's body. Additionally, doctors
use Magnetic Resonance Imaging to assess the condition of soft tissue within
the body. MRIs use powerful magnetic fields to scan and reproduce an image
of the internal body structure. The machine used for MRIs feeds bioelectrical
activity detected internally back to a computer that recreates a picture of a
particular region. The computer is able to map out a three-dimensional image
of activity within the area being scanned. The image created by the computer
allows doctors to analyze the activity within a patient's body and effectively
diagnose them. Without computers, doctors would need to perform invasive
surgery in order to find physical and operational defects within the body as a
form of diagnosis.

Computer programs and technology has improved communications between

different groups of people in the medical and biological field significantly.
Primarily, the Internet provides the patients, doctors, and nurses with quicker
communication. This way, the three can communicate from greater distances
at the same speed as if they were together. Online medical forums allow the
practitioners to discuss particular portions of a medical scenario and to come
up with timely conclusions. Furthermore, Electronic Medical Records are
believed by clinicians to have instigated a greater amount of communication
with patients is multiple ways. Those who use EMRs' e-mail function agree
that it "lowered communication barriers" and "improved the quality of
relationship" by increasing communication between office visits and
eliminating phone tag. Also, because clinicians do not have to run down the
hall for test results, or leave the room to pull up medical records, they are
spending more face-to-face time with their clients. The appointment time can
go uninterrupted because the doctor/nurse has everything they need operate
smoothly at the click of a button.

In addition, online communication between multiple doctors provides a wider

amount of information that puts the patient at greater ease. They are better
able to trust the diagnosis and the conclusion of the doctor because he has
received numerous second opinions. The communication barrier created by
the medical language can also be torn down through the ready availability of
information for the patient provided by computers. While the clinician can
verbally explain to their patients how something works, they can also pull
information from educational resources and other records in other to aid them
in this process. Computers help to better communication in the medical field in
a variety of ways. Without computers, communication would be less frequent,
less personable, and more perplexing.

In conclusion, computers play an indispensable role in the medical field, and

without them, proficiency and productivity would decline markedly. Computers
assist with organisational, administrative duties, patient records, and a
number of medical technologies that are an absolute necessity in todays
world.
References:
https://www.cleverism.com/advancements-healthcare-medicine-towards-
brighter-future/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11740/
http://www.bibalex.org/psc/en/home/sciplanetdetails.aspx?id=104