Medical pathology is the study of various changes underlying a disease that bridges the discipline of basic science and clinical practice. There are four aspects of the disease process that forms the core of pathology. This involves the cause of disease, biochemical and molecular mechanisms of development, changes in structure, and the underlying consequences.
Current trends in pathology have focused on the extended care of patients, research of bloodborne disease, and expanding studies in oncology. Furthermore, researchers and doctors are working constantly to cover the demand for the identification and solution of emerging pathological issues. The practice has changed over the years, but it’s still evolving to adopt the developments in science and technology that can help improve its process.
Here are 5 innovations in the field of medical pathology.
- Digital Pathology
Previous work in the field of pathology has been done traditionally. Data is manually submitted and processed every day, which has delayed the process of identifying underlying medical conditions in patients. The application of information technology towards pathology has developed digital pathology. This innovation has redefined the way medical practitioners and researchers study and identify different diseases.
The digitalization of pathology has improved the turnaround and organization of data from one lab to another. For example, glass slides can now be digitized through image scanners and have allowed for more archiving and tracking huge chunks of patient data. Future advances in this field will allow the development of technologies like brain-computer interfaces, which will allow patients to regain neural activities lost through disease.
- Spatial Biology
Studying tissue in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional context is called spatial biology. It’s an innovation that has contributed to the thousands of new researches for the field of molecular biology. It’s a branch of molecular biology that has been recently available thanks to the newer technology available for scientific research.
One of the recent studies on this field is about the tumor microenvironment which has adds to the possibility to view the gaps in between cells, define the reactions of molecules, and many more. This has been useful especially for the field of medical pathology since it helps them in defining the different reactions of the immune system to disease.
- Safety Simulations
Safety simulations in the field of medicine have proven to be useful for most of the healthcare workers present in the field. Performing invasive and surgical procedures through simulations can help a medical practitioner learn new methods while improving the safety of patients. This is possible through the availability of three-dimensional technology.
Pattern recognition inside and outside the body is a highly valuable skill as a pathologist. According to most practitioners, the availability of three-dimensional simulation-based learning has improved their way in the identification of underlying pathological issues within the human body
- Microelectrode Array (MEA) Technology.
Through the advancement of technology, neuroscientists are now able to examine the broad activity of the nervous system that hasn’t been explored yet. Previous techniques only allow for a smaller area to be viewed at a time, which doesn’t cover the whole activity of the neurological pathways of the body. The time it takes to produce data also takes up to a year, which delays medical research by a huge margin.
This previous lack of information has limited the ability of researchers to replicate the pathway of neurological diseases, causing a lack of understanding of the true nature of neuropathology. However, due to the appearance of the MEA more data and definition is available which opens up a whole new area of study for neuro-pathological research.
- Laser Technology
The availability of laser technology in the field of medical pathology opens up a lot of new possibilities in the treatment of various diseases. Newer applications of this technology have helped in the non-invasive elimination of tumor cells, which causes cancer.
Laser technology has shown a lot of promise since its discovery. The medical community has used it for the detection of glaucoma since 1992, and its application towards the identification and treatment of disease has increased even more. Recent studies are also able to push through at the molecular level due to the availability of this technology.
In A Nutshell
Various medical treatments and research can advance because of technology. As the number of diseases expands, the demand for research and data increases. Luckily these innovations can help medicine to move forward. But in the long run, it’s not made to replace pathologists, it’s only developed so that it can aid their research, diagnosis, and treatment of various diseases.