Emergency surgery is an area where any tiny advancement can make a huge difference. It’s the difference between success and failure. In an emergency, any move is crucial, so if there is any tech or procedure out there that can help you avoid making a mistake, improve protocol, or offer a better idea, it’s bound to make a positive difference.
And there is a lot of advancements in medicine making a lasting effect right now. We’re breaking down the most innovative advancements in medicine.
Injectable sponges
One of the biggest killers, no matter the situation, is blood loss. That can be on the operating table, at the scene of an accident, or on the battlefield. If your body has suffered trauma, what will kill you is the result of that trauma: blood loss.
That’s where the injectable sponges come in. Tourniquets are bulky and of no use if your trauma is at the groin or armpit, whereas injectable sponges are large syringes, filled with pill-sized sponges. They are administered like any other syringe treatment directly into the wound and the sponges inside will immediately start expanding due to blood, applying pressure as they grow.
Initially made for the military, like plenty of other innovative ideas in our world, it has recently been approved for civilian use, so you can imagine emergency response teams around the world carrying them soon.
Self retaining medical retractors
Since the, shall we say, “awareness” of germ theory, and the discovery that dirty hands inside the body isn’t really a good thing, operating rooms swiftly got a lot cleaner. Sometimes it’s not enough. A body open on the table can be contaminated by a hole in a glove, surgeons not washing their hands correctly, too many people in the room, and a million other variables.
That’s why June Medical developed the Galaxy II. These self retaining medical retractors allow one less person to stand around the table. Previous retractors needed an assistant to adjust it while the surgeon worked, with that being their entire job at the table. With a retractor that will adjust itself as needed, surgeons can focus on the job at hand and keep one less contaminant near their patient.
It’s a simple change and yet will have lasting effects, with the results being fewer cases of contamination in the operating room.
3D printing
3D printing has radically changed the medical industry for good. Its applications throughout healthcare are numerous. 3D printers create prosthetic limbs for cheap, so that children can grow into and out of them and adults can get sized personalized to them. Although it’s in its early stages, 3D printing has led to the development of functional replicas of bones, organs, and blood vessels, so that patients that need replacements, like an organ donation, don’t have to wait for another patient to donate. And, specifically to surgery, 3D printing can quickly create sterile and affordable tools. Lighter, stronger, and safer tools have all been developed to make small changes to surgery with big effects.
