FROM microrobot surgeons and virtual reality diagnostics to psychedelics, what is the future of healthcare?
麻豆传媒鈥榮 all-day virtual event on 26 June, sponsored by Alzheimer鈥檚 Research UK, was filled with inspiring talks from leading experts in health and medicine about the coming revolution in healthcare, with thought-provoking questions from the audience.
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Viewers had access to a wide range of talks and discussions across three virtual stages, tackling big questions in health and healthcare, including: how we could take vaccine technology to the next level in our battle against covid-19 and other diseases like cancer; the role of genomics and artificial intelligence in healthcare; and how magic mushrooms might form part of a future treatment for depression.
It is impossible to talk about health at the moment without considering the enormous impact that the covid-19 pandemic will continue to have globally. On the main stage, at the University of Southampton, UK, explained why countries mustn鈥檛 ignore the massive burden of chronic illness, or long covid, that follows acute waves of coronavirus infection.
鈥淚f somebody survives the infection or the acute illness in the short term, that mustn鈥檛 be confused with full recovery,鈥� said Alwan. We need to learn from other chronic conditions, such as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), she said.
There is early evidence that existing covid-19 vaccines may reduce or eliminate symptoms of long covid in some people. at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver spoke on the mind and body stage about the next generation of mRNA vaccines, including a vaccine containing mRNA that can amplify itself inside cells.
It would take just two Olympic swimming pools worth of the Pfizer/BioNTech covid-19 vaccine to fully vaccinate everyone on the planet, said Blakney. 鈥淚t really puts into perspective how one company would be able to make vaccines for the entire world.鈥�
But it might be possible to improve mRNA vaccine technology, allowing us to make these vaccines even more potent, so that each drop can go further in terms of getting people jabbed, said Blakney. 鈥淲hat [a] self-amplifying RNA vaccine enables us to do is use a much lower dose of RNA, so typically a 100 times lower dose.鈥�
Meanwhile, on the technology stage, at University College London described innovations that could revolutionise the diagnosis of dementia, which is getting more prevalent as the populations of many nations age.
The number of people living with dementia around the world is . Early diagnosis is crucial to enable the use of treatments that can help delay the onset of symptoms. But many of the existing memory and 鈥減en-and-paper鈥� tests used to diagnose dementia are hopelessly outdated and most people are only diagnosed once they have already started to develop symptoms, said Chan. 鈥淭he field is in dire need of a refresh,鈥� he said.
That鈥檚 why his research team is investigating the potential of virtual reality, machine learning and wearable technology to enable much earlier diagnosis of the disease 鈥� years before symptoms first appear.
One test that Chan鈥檚 team has developed involves people completing a VR navigation task. In an initial study, he and his colleagues found that this test was able to distinguish people with preclinical Alzheimer鈥檚 disease from those experiencing mild cognitive impairment for reasons that were unrelated to dementia.
鈥淲here we鈥檙e going now with this, is actually going even earlier into the disease,鈥� said Chan.
As well as developing better diagnosis and treatments for conditions commonly associated with ageing, researchers are investigating ways to target the ageing process directly, for instance through diet or by using existing drugs to promote health in later life.
at University College London spoke on the mind and body stage about ongoing research aiming to tackle ageing in humans, in an effort to prevent or delay the unhealthy period at the end of life when people鈥檚 risk of developing conditions such as cancer goes up.
Also on this stage, at Imperial College London shared the results of a recent clinical trial, which she managed, investigating whether psilocybin 鈥� the main active ingredient in 鈥渕agic mushrooms鈥� 鈥� could help treat depression. Findings from the trial are leading researchers to rethink the way that mental health conditions such as depression might be treated in the future, with a growing emphasis likely to be on identifying and tackling their underlying causes.
When you give someone psilocybin, certain areas in the brain that don鈥檛 usually connect with each other start doing so, said Giribaldi. 鈥淭here鈥檚 massive amounts of things happening in your brain and also massive potential for change,鈥� she said.
鈥淰irtual reality and wearable technology could enable early diagnosis of dementia鈥�
The trial compared the effects of a high dose of psilocybin with the current gold-standard drug treatment for depression, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), in 59 people with moderate to severe depression. Participants also had sessions with a therapist alongside drug treatment.
Giribaldi and her colleagues found that psilocybin performed better than the SSRI on several different measures of depression. 鈥淚t definitely shows that there is a lot of potential here and we need to do a lot more research,鈥� she said.
at King鈥檚 College London wrapped up the day of talks on the technology stage, providing a glimpse of the future of surgical robotics, including tiny robots that could be used to assist with delicate microsurgeries, such as in the eye.
Alongside all the talks, researchers from King鈥檚 College London鈥檚 School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences wowed the audience with activities, live demos and workshops throughout the day. Viewers were able to see the role 3D printing plays in healthcare, use origami to explore folds in the brain and chat to researchers about career paths in the healthcare sector.
The day provided a unique insight into the science and technology that will underpin healthcare in years to come. All the talks are available to watch on demand.
Sponsored by Alzheimer鈥檚 Research UK
