Innovations in cancer treatment. Technologies that will revolutionize oncology

Oncology is a field of medicine in which great hopes are placed. The number of cancer cases around the world is constantly growing. That is why scientists and specialists also from other fields are constantly looking for new solutions that will stop this process. The ongoing research into innovative cancer detection and treatment strategies is constantly shifting the frontiers of understanding cancer.

Until recently, the technologies described below could only be associated with science fiction films and remained only in the sphere of dreams about the future. Fortunately, we have the opportunity to observe how they irreversibly reshape medicine now.

Artificial intelligence

The main strength of artificial intelligence is its ability to process huge data sets and then learn from them. Compared to the capabilities of the human mind, artificial intelligence is unrivaled - regardless of the intelligence of a person, acquiring knowledge in such amounts is an impossible task. This technology is currently used in many areas, but the possibilities it offers in medicine are tremendous. Thanks to it, the processing of many research and scientific data, even from different parts of the world, is not a big problem. The result of the work of artificial intelligence can provide doctors with important information, including treatment strategies possibilities or a given patient. The analysis of large sets of medical data can also be used in diagnostics, significantly accelerating this process and increasing its efficiency. Artificial intelligence is used in research on drugs and new therapeutic solutions.

More about artificial intelligence: Artificial intelligence in oncology

Medical robots

There are many benefits of using robots for surgery. The use of robots in medicine, and more precisely during surgical procedures, in many cases allows shortening the time not only of the operation, but also of the patient's convalescence. Medical robots are used in particular during long, precise and very complex operations. During such a procedure, the operator remains in the same position for a very long time. Even despite many years of practice, excellent condition and knowledge, there is a risk of involuntary gentle twitches. That is why medical robots have been created that perform individual activities during an operation with mathematical precision. Thanks to this, the risk of possible complications is minimized. This technology offers hope for increasing the effectiveness of surgical procedures. The da Vinci robots are among the most famous robotic solutions already used in oncology.

3D technology

Among the described technologies, it is the most famous one about three-dimensional technology in recent years. Nobody is surprised anymore with prostheses produced with the use of 3D printers. Thanks to the printing in this technology, it is possible to create precise models that are ideally suited to the anatomy of patients. A 3D printout can also apply to internal organs. For what purpose is this technology used in their case? 3D prints of organs give doctors a chance to get a closer look at lesions and the effect they can have on bodily functions. The main advantage of using this technology in this way is the preparation of models based on patient imaging studies. Thanks to 3D printing, doctors have obtained another tool that not only allows them to prepare even better for treatments (especially the complicated ones), but also minimize the risk during their performance.

Yet another way of using the three-dimensional in medicine are 3D visualizations, which are also prepared on the basis of existing patient studies. However, in their case, the possibility of viewing the result exists only in virtual space, which has many advantages. The most important of them is the possibility of any manipulation of the obtained model - e.g. revealing subsequent layers, without compromising the image quality. What's more, the changes made can be undone at any time. 3D visualizations are used in the preparatory process of surgical procedures. In the context of oncology, surgeons can check what a neoplastic tumor looks like and where it is located before the procedure.

What the future holds?

The described technologies are available now, but due to various factors and limitations (including financial ones), many institutions and specialists choose traditional solutions. This situation is gradually changing for the better, and innovative solutions are becoming more and more common. Popularization of artificial intelligence, three-dimensional technology and medical robots in oncology will soon make them permanently included in the process of diagnosis and treatment of cancer.