The Cleveland Clinic is an “academic medical center” known not only for the medical care received there but also for their work in medical research. Every year, their panel of 60 doctors select the expected top ten medical innovations of the upcoming year. Their criteria for their selections are significant clinical impact, high probability of commercial success, in or exiting clinical trial, and sufficient data to support its nomination. Although the second criteria likely eliminates some truly amazing advances, it also ensures that their top ten is not a list of what would be ideal, but what is likely.
The number one medical innovation for 2009 was the use of “circulating tumor cell technology“. This technology allows scientists to measure the amount of circulating tumor cells in a sample of blood, no matter how minute the number. It can show doctors whether or not a patient is at risk for developing cancer, if a patient’s cancer has metastasized, and ultimately if chemotherapy would be an effective treatment. This invention could be greatly helpful in the field of oncology.
The runner-up for 2009 was a warm organ perfusion device. This could be of greatest use for those in need of a heart transplant. A heart can only survive outside a human body for four hours, but with this device that simulates the conditions of the human body, the life span triples to twelve hours. This innovation will prevent waste, as hearts without the device that are not transplanted within four hours will decay and become unusable.
The Cleveland Clinic selected “bone conduction of sound for single-sided deafness” as the number one medical innovation for 2010. This is a hearing device that does not require surgery and conducts specific imperceptible vibrations through the teeth to help patients with single-sided deafness. Find out more about how it works here.
The runner-up for 2010 is simple but its effects will save many lives. It is a low-volume, low-pressure tracheal tube cuff to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia. The airway seals used previously only sealed partially, allowing fluids to leak into the lungs. On the opposite end, they could also be set to too high a pressure and damage the trachea. This new device seals completely (and gently) and will reduce the number of cases of pneumonia in patients who require ventilators. Some of the problems caused by the now outdated tracheal tube cuffs are outlined here in a study.
These brief summaries of only four devices/techniques show that the medical world advances every year. I hope that you will take the time out to read about a few more at the Cleveland Clinic Website.